#sure his powers are all mid-level compared to heroes who focus on that power

[peterbwatsonparker]

running on water seems like it would need super-super speed, but apparently you just have to be able to reach like. 70 mph to manage.

ergo, Spider-Man should probably be able to do it, which would have no relevance at any time except for going to the usual place

[lizzybeth1986]

Folks keep calling Liam a sucky king as if a) it’s his fault rather than the writers, and b) MC and all the other LIs are also political figures.

Ah, the power of that man! He can turn stans of...y'know...Drake and Maxwell, into impromptu political scholars in no time at all  just by...breathing? Existing? Standing there? Liking a girl?

Jsbbsbsbs jokes aside, there is one thing we need to understand. The "sucky king" discourse is rooted in fandom's tendency to keep moving goalposts with certain characters. Particularly with customizable characters in an LI lineup that includes either a white or "exoticizable brown" male. 

What do I mean by "moving goalposts"? This is a metaphor often used to describe a type of argument where you start with a premise, but when that premise is met/answered, you shift the "goalpost" to something unrelated to the first point. This develops into a constant, useless loop in that debate which the other side can never win. 

I see this happen time and again with discussions on Liam specifically, and I've been around since the beginning of TRR2. If he adequately meets the romantic hero mould in giving the MC time and attention and love, the goalpost will shift to "he is neglecting his kingdom to do so!". If we're given hints of him actually working, with his interactions with us behind a paywall, we will compare him to Drake and Maxwell (Hana is...conveniently absent in these discussions, mind you) who have all the time in the world (gosh. I wonder why). When he makes a political decision at his Coronation that will also potentially save the life of the woman he loves...and it is obvious there's more to that action, people don't hesitate to condemn him for it. When the narrative chooses instead to focus on the romance rather than the work he does (even when it is clearly hinted at btw lol), there will be plenty of posts faking concern for fictional commoners. Y'know, the same commoners I've never once seen Drake having any meaningful interactions with.

When he shows interest in the MC those players will beg for a chance to reject him outright, but when he accepts that rejection without a complaint, the same stans will complain about his "lack of passion". They will write and consume fanfic where he throws a hissy fit, and call it "better than canon". But if he had been angry, I know for a fact that they'd tear him apart.  

I'm sure if Liam was allowed to show interest in Olivia in Book 2 - however small - the same stans who were "not interested" in him...would dub him even more of a womanizer for being engaged to one woman and showing interest in two. (As it is they ignored the fact that Madeleine outright suggested the arrangement with the MC, and labelled the man a cheater!) But as it stands, these stans saw him show no romantic interest in Olivia, and twisted that into "he doesn't care about her at all". Funny how Drake's behaviour towards Kiara - which was visibly worse in Book 3 - never invites this level of scorn.

You see...I learned early on that with a fandom like this one, Liam can't win. Had Drake been held to the same standards we were holding Liam, we'd have an insane number of things to blow out of proportion. We'd probably even have problems with the way he handled the discovery of that tampered lock! Had Maxwell been held to these standards, we'd be ripping him apart for the way other LIs were doing his work in Book 1. And we'd be doing that all while ignoring the things about them that this fandom loves to coo over. 

Liam is placed in this tricky position particularly because TRR stans were inclined to believe that the narrative favours him - and there is some validity in that assumption (esp in Book 1 and - in terms of making Liam's interactions largely romantic - Book 2). You have to really pay attention, to even grasp how much the narrative actually favours Drake, a process that began as early as mid-TRR1. So the constant barrage of criticism towards Liam is allowed and accepted, on the pretext of being targeted at a "forced LI" (more on that here). 

Because not many people are actually going to watch every single playthrough, this "sole forced LI" narrative persists - and will continue to do so - no matter how long we spend refuting it. Many Liam stans themselves began to believe this myth, because they wouldn't know (unless it was  pointed out to them) that the narrative was actually not being fair to Liam as they believed (considering Liam's is the only playthrough they're playing). So people are going to keep uncritically promoting these views and ideas, and it won't be long before this misinformation is viewed as truth.

Why did I spent this long yapping about unrelated things when the topic was about the "sucky king" discourse? Because it's important to note that in many, many cases, this critique doesn't always emerge from a genuine desire for this character to be better. We could provide all the evidence in the world and spend all day pointing out how the narrative limits his development as both a person and a politician, but that's not what a lot of the people raking up this argument care about. That's not why they bring it up. And if the narrative did allow him to prove himself a competent king, I have no doubt in my mind they'd punch holes in that too. Or find something else to gripe about. 

And as you mentioned, anon, they will do all this while never once asking the same questions about their own LIs, who are in that goddamn Council.

Regardless of that, I feel there is value in exploring not only Liam as a king, but also what importance the narrative itself gives to that role. It's impossible for me to do one without the other.

TRR Book 1

Liam is the Crown Prince - stoic, dutiful, resigned to the limitations of his role despite his romantic bent of mind. Or as fandom liked to call it back then: "boring, one-dimensional, too perfect".

The book revolves around the social season so the focus is more on the colourful events than any actual diplomacy, and Liam is shrouded in secrecy besides the few moments we get with him once some of these events are done. What he does actively do, though, is help out the MC during the social season, when Maxwell fails to. This is hard to notice because he does this through Drake, and because in certain things Hana takes charge of passing useful information that will help the MC in tasks. There is a recognition from the three LIs that the MC is new here, needs help and guidance, and that neither Maxwell nor Bertrand may adequately deliver that. That's the context in which they interact and grow closer with the MC.

For the most part of his narrative, Liam  clearly deals with his personal issues - especially his grief in the latter half of the book over his father's impending death (remember - at this point he has just found out), having to adjust with becoming king this soon, and his thoughts on how the MC may  fare as a potential Queen - alone. Similarly for any stress he may face on a political level: in fact at this point we won't even be given hints. 

The first openly political action we do see from Liam, is in the final moments of the finale. When the "scandal" breaks, Liam is insistent on speaking to the MC first, but is taken aside by Regina and convinced to calm the court with an engagement to Madeleine, on the promise that she will bring the MC back. 

This was a calculated risk taken at a time when he was in emotional turmoil (he hurts his hand hitting a desk later), and precious few of the stans screeching about his weak kingship now...took very kindly to him making this clearly political decision. In fact, even when most of us Liam stans explained our theories regarding his choice there, the response was almost always, "yeah whatever, he could have done more". Seems like those two-minute political science degrees were stuck somewhere in the printing machine, huh?

TRR Book 2

Some of the most insidious criticism regarding Liam as a king began here. The engagement tour was dubbed a pleasure trip, and Liam was often viewed as sex-crazy and only interested in cheating on his fiancee (again, it's not cheating if the fiancee KNEW and in fact OFFERED that arrangement!). But what did the narrative say about this tour?

The tour is indeed a pleasure trip...if you ignore what they're planning to do there in the first place. Furthermore, we're told that there are other functions that only the royals attend, which the MC is never really privy to.

A lot of this was either not noticed, or ignored, especially around the time Liam broke the engagement. The prominent discourse when he broke it as easily as he did was "what will the taxpaying Cordonian citizen think, with King Liam going on this world tour and then returning with a different bride?" 

(Sidenote: canon mentions a constitutional clause in the first chapter, that specifies that Liam could only break the engagement if he proved it was in the best interests of Cordonia...which meant that Madeleine had to be proven to not be a good fit. Madeleine, who was a favourite of one of the writers on the team. Funny how this clause was thrown out of the window the moment they decided to make us sympathize with her. Funny how the blame from fandom went squarely on Liam, rather than on the narrative for  clearly tossing aside this very important point to benefit Madeleine's story).

I talk about this more in the TRR3 section, but it's also important to notice how little we know about Liam at this point, how little interest the MC actually shows in what he does, how the conversations are mostly centered around her. Plenty of complaints against Liam in these two books revolved around him not being "there for her" (this is a phrase you will see brought up even now - that Drake and Maxwell were "always there for her" and Liam wasn't. Hana, again, is often considered a non-entity even though she was doing some of the tougher parts of that investigation on her own). But what I find fascinating is what this man is doing with his government/advisors (who we never see) behind the scenes, without needing to announce to other people that he's doing so, and still carving pockets of time in between to spend with a woman he loves. And how much the group itself actively excludes him from the investigation, unless it's safe for him to be involved. In fact - I wonder why no one finds it odd that Bertrand was apologizing to the MC, but not to Liam even though he would have been even more affected by the NY bachelor party leaks, since the press would have used it to discredit him.

(Again...funny how there is a pattern of Drake weighing in on shit that happened/will happen to Liam, that Liam never gets to talk about! Funny how no one has a problem with that!)

I recall seeing a Drake stan at the time framing the Book 2 narrative as: "King Liam will come to you for a hot night after court, but Drake truly loves you". I recall seeing Maxwell stans (much later) framing his proposal as "Liam knew the MC was in love with his friends, but arrogantly believed she would pick him over them". (Plenty Hana stans, rightly, pointed out the ridiculousness of the attention given to ALL the male LIs, while Hana was still being paid dust. And yes, that included Maxwell getting his first romance scene in a chapter where Hana was missing). These weren't the only posts I saw in that vein. I wasn't joking when I spoke about fandom overtheroizing, and twisting things that meant something different in the text, to make their favourites look good. Some of you folks should be relieved you weren't in fandom back then!

TRR Book 3

The overall reaction to the suggestion of a Unity Tour involved some serious side-eyeing, even from Liam stans. Many of us complained about the futility of a PR exercise for a wedding after we'd just been attacked by assassins. Most of us wanted a narrative that would focus on Liam proving himself as a king, the way his ancestor Kenna did centuries ago.

I think we failed to take one thing into account. Kenna Rys' story wasn't taken over by a Black Hole, and reduced to just teaching Diplomacy 101 to a newbie. Liam's was.

Forget politics for a minute. Think of what this tour would have looked like on a personal level. Liam has just found out, a couple weeks ago, that his father (and hero) wasn't the honorable king he believed him to be. Very shortly after, he is the target of another assassination attack - one in many (while still, optionally, dealing with heartbreak). This makes him the subject of doubt in this country. In this attack not only does his fiancèe/friend get targeted, but his best friend gets injured, along with his bodyguard and another lady of the court. He also knows that his father will die soon. He's only been a king for a month at most at this point.

Midway through this tour, his father sacrifices his life in an attack clearly meant to kill him. Guess what the narrative gives us. A single tear in his eye during the epilogue. The MC bothers to ask him how he's holding up only once, while (optionally) running after Drake to teach him the Cordonian Waltz and lending a listening ear to his endless stories about his father, while (optionally) standing up to Olivia's aunt and bolstering her confidence when the same aunt publicly puts her down as a Duchess. Most of Liam's scenes - even the diplomacy ones - are meant purely for the MC's benefit, rather than centered around him as a person, or even as a king.

His position as a king also, is only of interest when the MC can use him to mine information about this country. What policies does he push? What reforms is he interested in making? (The MC can tell us her own areas of interest in the first book, but very little of that actually features in the book where she becomes Queen/Duchess). The narrative never cared enough to ask, and the non-Liam fan end of the fandom didn't either.

You will find that even with the speeches he is meant to deliver, the narrative makes a conscious effort to give the meatiest parts to the MC. She takes over his speech at the Captiol after Anton's men release that video, she's the one who delivers the "ashes enrich the soil" line (though Liam kickstarted the speech there). But as you can see in this sequence below, she's not the one walking the talk - Liam is.

Why do most non Liam stans not remember this? Because the narrative - very carefully - made this a dialogue option...in a diamond scene...in only his LI playthrough. Which meant 90% of the fandom wouldn't see it to begin with. And I can bet that even if we got this information in other playthroughs, your present day political-science pundits wouldn't care. There was little speculation (except from now-frustrated Liam stans) over his father's death and the added pressure, and the narrative pandered instead to bizarre demands from...certain stans by showing us more of his "heartbreak" in the chapters leading up to the wedding, and only one scene of his grief over his father's death. This man doesn't even HAVE much of a plot in this book, and none of his overarching issues - personal or political- are addressed beyond one line in the Diplomacy scene, much less satisfactorily. 

If Liam's not going to be seen as important enough to the story as a person, how the hell do you expect him to fare as a political figure???

The Royal Heir Series

This series is trash and doesn't deserve a book-by-book breakdown. So I'll just address it in one go here, because from here on out I don't think the writers even consistently remember that Liam is the country's monarch anymore. Unless it's convenient for the MC. Hell, even now they keep forgetting to address him as "Your Majesty" rather than "Your Highness".

These are questions I had constantly while this series was running:

1. Why do I never hear about Liam's prior negotiations with these foreign kingdoms?

2. Why do the Auvernese always talk about Liam's mother and never about Liam?

3. Why was the only story about Liam's mother that mattered, the one where she was killed? 

4. Hell, why does Liam's pain over the new facts about his mother's murder, explored only in two-second scenes after which everyone moves on to more important things?

5. Drake's wife has to overhaul his mother's ranch, placate his sister, listen to endless stories about holidays on the ranch and his father. Why does Liam's wife never ask any questions or get to know this much information? Why is Maxwell's wife not more weirded out that neither her husband nor her brother-in-law told her their father was still alive?

...I have no questions or expectations from Hana's wife. Hana's wife is an asshole.

6. I spent 8 whole chapters in Drake's cursed ranch in Texas, why do I never get to see Liam at work?

7. Why is everyone paying this much attention to the MC, even though her position as the Heir's mother gives her a little more power? 

8. On the flip side, why do they not show us the King's interactions? Why do we rarely see his opinion matter?

9. Where was the roster of commoners that Liam promised in the finale of TRR3?

10. Why couldn't Liam make the MC's kid the heir presumptive instead?

11. Why is the fandom calling Liam  Rumpelstiltskin when their own LIs neglected to contest this and were in fact jumping at the opportunity??

12. Why is Liam's stupid decision a character flaw...and the other LIs' stupid decisions…just "bad writing"?

13. Why is the MC the front and center of these political conversations, despite there being no canon evidence that she actually works to educate herself on Cordonian issues?

14. ...did they just secretly demote Liam to a Duke. Coz that's the only power they seem to allow him at all. 

By the time TRH1 got over, I stopped playing the book, but boy did the discourse on my dash give me a headache. Lots of memes about tours. Lots of shitposts about Liam being weak (coz...y'know...the Council magically ceases to exist and all the other LIs + side characters had no say in this, right?). Lots of memes about how Kenna would be ashamed of her descendant (I disagree: she'd probably be more like "I'm sorry your story got eaten up by all these black holes, kid. My story had a deutragonist and I never had to put up with this shit!"). And oh God, the posts I saw that labelled the trip to Lythikos and Hollywood as pleasure trips taken in the midst of turmoil, when it was clearly spelled out that they were going to:

1. Train

2. Meet a fucking contact.

I mean, this is canon:

This is the fandom:

(I can assure you that wasn't the only post I was seeing, that took that reading of the narrative and ran with it)

At this point, Liam's position as king services the story more than the story services him. The MC enjoys the power and position that comes from being both a Duchess (through him), and mother to the heir apparent that he appointed, without any real attention on who he is and what he does. Neither are his personal issues explored with him in mind if at all, nor is his work if they ever bother to feature it. He is constantly viewed as secondary to these plots despite being the whole reason we have this story in the first place. 

Some of the critiques regarding this system, were aimed at both the writing and the overall country, sure. But the brunt of the bashing was dumped mostly on Liam's shoulders, as a character. And I find it a little suspicious that up until the point the narrative got very obviously lazy with his story, the larger fandom wasn't paying attention. 

Let me be frank with you for a sec, fandom. Most of you didn't care that Liam's first experience of an assassination attempt traumatized him: instead you focused on Drake leaving college. Most of you didn't care that a man who lost his father wasn't allowed to grieve him. Or that his feelings over his mother's murder didn't count until the Godfrey reveal, and didn't matter after that. And...sure, whatever. That's okay. You're not interested in him as a character, of course you'll choose to miss these things. As long as you don't pretend to be an authority on this character, I can just roll my eyes and move on to the next post. 

But most of you also had no problem - when Liam stans were busy complaining about how he hardly even had a plot of his own in TRR3 - with him not being allowed to show more of his political side then. With his work not being addressed then. With his style of ruling not being shown then. With his journey as a king who has to shoulder the burden of his father's mistakes, being ignored then. Yet you constantly bring it up now like it's a character flaw that only Liam holds. Rather than a narrative flaw that stems both from sticking to a formula in the latter books (which tbh affects all the LIs), and from NOT wanting to do justice to his story to begin with. 

You write content where his only purpose is to be in love with the MC and nothing else, and call it canon. You write fanfic that depicts him as some sort of...sex-crazed predator and call that canon. You make post after post with "callouts" of this character, and then when your favourite acts in ways that don't reflect well on them as characters, you suddenly remember that it's "bad writing". And the sad part is...I know the writers themselves care so little about this character, that they'll lean into your shoddy impressions of him and make them canon. Just like they did with poor Kiara and Hana.

And none of it makes any sense...unless the only reason you want to focus on Liam as a king now, is solely to bash him. While ensuring that no one ever asks equally stringent questions, of your own LIs. 

[redantsunderneath]

DC COMICS: Incoherence as Not-a-Bug-but-a-Feature (Spoilers for Batman 89-100)

Due to the emergence of the new Batman villain character Punchline, I wound up buying the last 12 issues of Batman and reading them in a single sitting. I’ve had trouble following DC comics for a while, constantly feeling that they were in trouble since back in the mid 2000s (with a glimmer of hope here and there). The act of reading DC comics has been a frustrating experience, where individual good stories and runs were laying around in the context of a lot of things that didn’t make sense while the company’s thrust felt chaotic and ideas not well blended. Every status quo change seemed hard to figure out the rules of enough to parse the context.  We’ll get into the background of this, but my reading today of this extended stretch of comics that keeps losing the plot in favor of a fever dream of what’s happening at the moment with specific characters that refuse to cohere, it became obvious that what I had been looking at as subtext or critique was actually the text. I could see the messed up trees but was missing the the forest the universe was trying to describe.

What happens in these issues (Batman current series 89-100, I missed the beginning of the first of 2 arcs) is rolling war between the major Batman villains and the heroes (plus Harley Quinn and Catwoman), which shifts into a Joker and Joker adjacent vs. all as the Joker double crosses everyone then manages to steal Bruce Wayne’s fortune.  We meet 3 new baddies – Underbroker, whose schtick is putting ill-gotten gains beyond the reach of the legal system (with an explicit line to rich globalists drawn), the Designer, who back in the day offered the four A list Batman villains plans to achieve what they most wanted, and Punchline, who is your toxic ex’s new millennial GF who really has it in for you (there is also a new good guy Clownhunter, which is a whole different thing, and a new costumed detective that predates Batman).  This doesn’t convey the chaotic nature of what is happening issue to issue, but there’s more than one Batman hallucinogenic spirit quest, dead characters ostensibly walking around, a plan revolving around the Bat’s origin story that tells some version of it several times, and a no-nonsense declaration that the Joker, as the Devil of the Batman spiritual system, cannot die.   The whole thing has the effect of convincing you there is no definitive sequence of events, only versions.

Alan Moore’s Killing Joke is not a favorite of mine, for a number of reasons.  But the ending holds up.  The Joker has done terrible things there is no antecedent for, and Batman wonders aloud if this never-ending dance they do ends in anything but both of their deaths; can they uncouple from the unhealthy duality the cycle of which simply repeats.  The Joker responds, well, with a joke about two lunatics trying to escape an asylum.  One jumps the roof to the next building, while the other is too scared to try.  The escapee offers to hold a light while the other crosses on a beam but he says no, no you’ll just cut the light while I’m half way across.  This not very funny joke nonetheless has a bunch of resonances – BM and Joker as conspiring co inmates, BM wanting to break out, a commentary about their natures (almost a reversal of the frog and scorpion story where the scorpion won’t go because he knows how this ends), but mostly it implicates BM as the one who is enabling the cycle, the reason why it won’t end.  They both laugh uproariously, and the ambiguous final panels can be read as the fundamental realization of his complicity causing BM to kill J.  A lethal joke indeed… except, next month, we see the both of them again.  In broader context, the ceaseless cycle of the diad is reaffirmed.  This has been hellaciously sticky as an idea in the Batmen universe.

My realization of what DC has been doing is pretty banal in its pieces. Marvel has “ground level” heroes while DC has a mythos, a pantheon.  Their archetypal makeup is strong, the seven JLA members lining up with the pantheon of Greek gods and the Chakras weirdly closely.  DC has big characters that are somewhat flat which they can use tell big bold individual stories that are cool the way legends and fables are cool. But these stories require bold strokes that a bit incompatible with each other. People get attached to these iterations. Meanwhile, Marvel trucks in soap operas where the characters give you an empathetic stand in and are narratively flexible. Marvel events are usually about the writer vs. the company, asking you to sympathize or deconstruct the creative impulse amid efforts to impose control or order.  DC’s events are about editorial vs. the audience, the shapers vs. the forces of the world.  It may seem obvious, given this description, that DC’s focus is on an archetypal tableau though it may be less obvious that this tableau is under extreme pressure from expectations when trying to tell ongoing tales month in, month out (or semi-monthly in some cases). The stories are constantly compared against the big stories that have gone before, and the audience’s ideas of the characters exert pressure to push them in directions that capture “the” version they believe in.  This circle is not possible to square.

DC and Marvel both have a multiverse of sorts.  DC used to tell “Elseworlds” stories which were later tucked into pocket universes.  DC invented crossing over between “realities.”  DC’s continuity is heavy baggage and they began to have “Crises” to resolve the narrative incompatibilities.  These only made things worse as you can’t get rid of the past people have a relationship with – it will come back.  Now you have to explain that away too.  Marvel just lets it lay – forget about the iffy stories, they count, sure, just no one is ever going to talk about them unless they have an angle.  Marvel continuity is all angles and amnesia. This is just easier to do with dating and rent and your ancient aunt’s medical bills than with Gods. Marvel’s multiverse is about sandboxes that you can always dump into the mainframe if they work (and never really mention the sandbox again).

There is a shift that occurred in the industry in the 2004 to 2005 era that is less remarked upon than many upheavals in comic’s history. Marvel had gone through a period of incredible new idea generation in the early 2000s after a late 90s creative cratering but had just fired the pro wrestling inflected soul of that moment (Bill Jemas).  DC was coming off of a period of trying to do moderately updated versions of what they basically been doing all along. The attitude was “yeah we’re under stress from the combined history of these characters, but we got to keep telling the stories.” Geoff Johns was one voice of DC over the 99-04 period that showed potential - he seemed to get how to find the core of characters and push them into a new in sync directions if they over the years have lost a clear identity.  But mostly he had internalized a basic schism between something mean that the audience wanted, and something good and wholesome about the characters themselves, and figured out how to mess around with this in a equilibrating fashion.

Interestingly, the ignition point of the main forces that were going to blow DC over the next decade and a half was a comic that had virtually nothing to do with any of those main forces. Brad Meltzer, a novelist, was hired to do a comic called Infinity Crisis, which sold extremely well and was, justifiably or not, recognized as an event.  At the same time, everyone also kind of hated it because the dark desires of some DC fans were pushed forward just a bit too much for comfort and for a comic with Crisis in the name it didn’t do a whole lot other than “darken” things.  Nonetheless, this lit an “event” fire at both companies.  Marvel chose a shake up the status quo for a year, then do it again, pattern and was off to the races (I have written about this, and more, here) while continuing its Randian framing of beleaguered do-gooders opposed by rule making freedom haters.

As this was playing out, Dan Didio quietly took power in DC Editorial.  His outlook was more Bloomian – he seemed to spark off of writers who exhibited anxiety of influence. He recognized Johns was the one person they had could be promoted into something of a universe architect, starting work on two key projects from which the rest would evolve. The first, was bringing back Hal Jordan as Green Lantern and diffracting the GL universe into its own symbolic system, with parts frisson-ing other parts, and almost a Magic the Gathering color scheme of ideas. The other was to build up to Infinite Crisis, which would become the model for most of their universe changing events until the present day.

The basic frame is this: DC heroes want to be good (in a sense of their inherent nature) but forces outside form a context that makes them fall.  It’s a very gnostic universe, DC.  They  examine reflections of the concepts, invent scapegoats for certain tendencies (see Superboy Prime as entitled fanboy, Dr. Manhattan as editors that try and fail to mend things, etc), make characters violate principles, rehabilitate them, then show that the world if anything is more broken than before.  This is kind of Johns’ thing and it fits Didio’s narrative as historicval tension fetish.  But then came Scott Snyder (not to be confused with Zack) who began to work on Batman in 2011.  Since then, as much as Justice League is pushed as the central title and Lex Luthor has been pimped, Batman has been the core of the universe and the Joker the core villain.

Snyder had the same continuity conflict wavelength but was significantly more meta and able to contain multitudes than Johns.  He was the first to make an explicit mystery of how there could be several Jokers around at one time (who are the same but not, he posited 3 – man, Christians!) that seems prescient given the near future coexistence of filmic Jokers that are not able to be resolved.  I believe he was the first to begin to tease out an idea – that different versions of things in comics are not a diffraction or filter effect, a using the set of things that work best for that story and leaving the rest, but are a matter of the archetypal system of the audience coming apart. From an in story perspective what appears to happen is that multiple versions of incompatible things exist in the collective unconscious of the continuing narrative, and this is something that the characters may become conscious of.  

The run I just read is written by James Tynion IV building on the above trends.  The trick seems to be going all in on the Jungian aspect (at Jung’s most religiously epiphanic).  The Designer was a progenitor and adversary to Batman’s predecessor and his intellectual approach eventually defeated the detective… broke him.  At some point in early Batman history, the Designer brought the top four Bat-baddies together and offered each, in turn, a plan to achieve what they most desired: the Riddler, a way to achieve an empire of the mind; the Penguin, power; and Catwoman, money.  They are all elated as they await the Joker to come out.  The Joker emerges with a furious Designer on his heals and promptly shoots him dead.  He explains that he didn’t like his joke in the form of a fable – the devil offered four people the path to their greatest desire: the three chose earthly things, but the Joker’s wish was to be him, to become the devil.  The story proceeds to suggest that the Joker just exists, he is present as a necessary component in the system.   You can kill him, yet he is alive.

DC has been using physics metaphors for the nature of their reality since Flash of Two Worlds in 1963.  The multiverse as a continuity concept was their idea and the holographic universe of the hypertime was a thing.  It seems like since Dan Didio took over, they’ve been heading towards a concept of broad superimposition, of measurement effect being weak, of the universe being like a quantum computer with all possibilities coexisting and the story instantiating not one reality but a path through all the possible ones.  By making Batman trip balls through quite a few issues and relive his origin from different angles, the story is one of its own instability and the heroic task that confronts our hero is attempting to actualize the world.  The Joker is the Devil in the sense of lack of fixed meaning, of relativistic chaos, of the world not making sense because it’s unmoored nature with ultimately no knowability.  Batman, in this story, functions as a postmodern knight crusading against the impossibility of epistemological grounding.

There’s more going on, sure.  One plot is, literally, defund Batman.  There is rioting, people brainwashed by being exposed to toxic ether, people paid to go to theaters even though they will die as a result, and questions about neoliberalism similar to that one Joker movie. Punchline has no personality yet (Tynion’s not the best at that) but she serves well as a generational foil for Harley – a rudderless ideological vacuum susceptible to Joker-as-idea-virus rather than an unfulfilled MD who felt alienated due to the structures of her life and was seeking escape into structureless possibility.  The Designer stuff is both continuity play (See why they changed from goofy villains to more “realistic” ones! Look how pulp heroes informed superheroes!), a comment on the nature of a longstanding narrative (strong intentions die out as Brownian motion overwhelms momentum), and a lawful evil/chaotic evil setup of the dualism of apocalypses (overdetermined authoritarian vs. center does not hold barbarism).  But the thing that ties this to the past decade and a half of DC is the sense that the reality is fluid and susceptible to change or outright s’cool incompatibility.

This is different than other flavors of meta in superhero comics.  Grant Morrison believes the archetypes are stronger than the forces that seek to bend them.  Alan Moore wants you to deconstruct your sacred cows and probably hates you personally.  Marvel might play with self-awareness, but effortlessly resolves inconsistencies after it’s finished playing.  DC, at this point, allows you to watch the waves solidfy into symbols and dissolve, and the constant confusion and lack of grounding is more of a choice then I thought this time yesterday.  The conflict theory of DC reality has been in full swing but this looks to be turning towards a kind of Zen historicism, holding contradictory things in your mind at once. Warren Ellis’ JLA/Authority book is the nearest comparable text I can think of. I need to call this, but I didn’t even talk about Death Metal, DC character multiplicity as meta-psychosis event extraordinaire.  Comics just keep getting weirder.

[davidcampiti]

THE CLASSIC ARTIST TEST

One way to test an incoming new artist's storytelling skills is to offer a test plot or script -- a few pages that a top professional artist has already done, so there's a baseline of storytelling standards with which to compare results.  This is not about style but, rather, storytelling strength -- clarity, powerful action and movement, and body language/gesture/overall character performance. Often I'll use a plot or script I've written and one of my artists has drawn, for the baseline.

This time, I decided to go back to classic John Buscema storytelling for the comparison.  Why flash back to the '60s?  Strong storytelling never goes out of style, and such classic superstars as Jack Kirby, John Romita, Gil Kane, Neal Adams, Jose Luis Garcia Lopez, and Will Eisner are among those whose every book can teach something useful.  Yet, as the years wear on, fewer and fewer incoming artists are even familiar with their work.

Here's a panel-by-panel plot I provided for a five-page test --

PAGE 1 Panel one -- Full-page splash.  Reed Richards is in pajama bottoms and slippers, in a bathroom, shaving.  A futuristic alarm (a Kirby Machine in foreground) goes off, catching his attention.  The Thing (Ben Grimm) peeks out of the shower, all sudsed up, also reacting to the alarm.  Title, credits, indicia go on this page.

PAGE 2 Panel one -- Reed and Ben run through the living room.  Ben wraps a towel around his waist; he still has suds on him.  Reed, now wearing a robe, wipes the shaving cream from his face with his towel.  Johnny Storm also hurries in.

Panel two -- Reed throws open a door to a control room, as a cyclone of wind whips papers,indicating someone or something just exited a window.

Panel three -- Reed reaches for a control panel, seeing a piece of machinery has been stolen, ripped away.  A tense Johnny looks around, realizing someone went out the window with it.

Panel four -- Outside the window now:  Johnny flames on, beginning the search, as Reed shouts orders after him.

PAGE 3 Panel one -- Full-page splash, in foreground, a concerned Silver Surfer enters a hospital room from the window, seeking to heal a patient.  Misunderstanding his intentions, a frantic doctor opens the door, as two cops enter with big special energy rifles.  A nurse hunches over, protecting the young woman in the hospital bed.

PAGE 4 Panel one -- Surfer gestures, reaching out toward the patient; nurse and cop warn him away.

Panel two -- Surfer pleads with them to reason.

Panel three -- Surfer casts a cosmic bolt toward the patient as the nurse reacts, fearing the worst.

Panel four -- One of the cops blasts Surfer with his rifle.

PAGE 5 Panel one -- Surfer drops to his knees, smoke rising from him as the cops stand over him.

Panel two -- Now pissed, Surfer gestures, energy flowing from his eyes.

Panel three -- Surfer casts cosmic power from his hands -- which pulls the rifles from the cops' grasp, melting them.

Panel four -- Surfer returns to the window, angered, ready to leave.  He points accusations at a cop and the nurse for assuming the worst.  He was only trying to help.

Here's an example of what an artist turned in for PAGE 1 --

Compare with Buscema's original --

Side-by-side without the title space -- 

Compare: John Buscema gives us a slight down shot.  A more tense, ready-for-action pose from Reed Richards; he's whipping his head around, his face is covered in shaving cream, hot water is running in the sink, the alarm thingie is going off, Ben Grimm is crumpling the shower curtain, all the soap suds are coming up off him. Even Reed's towel feels like it's moving, as if he's just thrown it over his shoulder.

For PAGE 2 --

The original --

Side-by-side --

I commented to the artist: In panel 1, you left out any indication this was the living room.  Ben's towel is already around him, Reed Richards is looking scrawny and old, no sense of power here.  Johnny is almost lost in the back of the hallway.  In John Buscema's version, Ben is in the middle of pulling the towel around himself.  The soap suds are still coming off him, indicating how fast he jumped out of the shower.  Reed has put on a robe; the material is moving, the robe's belt is flying up behind him, the towel is whipping in the air as he wipes the shaving cream off his face, Johnny is leaping over furniture to race toward us. In that quickly-drawn first panel, there's still AT LEAST seven levels of depth to the shot! Reed (level 1); the coffee table (level 2); Ben and Johnny (level 3); the sofa (level 4); base of the fireplace (level 5) the fireplace itself (level 6) opening to the bathroom they just came from (level 7).  So lots of depth to a simple shot.

Panel 2, you drew the action BETWEEN the panels.  Try never to do that unless the script calls for it.  Draw the MIDDLE of the action.  You've draw Reed already having opened the door, just standing there doing nothing.Buscema drew a dramatic down shot, Reed shoving open the door, hands up and open tensely, and the papers are whipping in one specific direction, indicating where the thief just exited.

Panel three, you have two skinny, emaciated heroes just standing there.  Johnny's looking at the floor or something.  Reed is just looking.  Buscema drew a concerned-faced Reed reaching toward the wires.  Johnny, hand balled into a fist as he's ready to bust into action, is looking around, but he's leaning forward -- he's moving into action.

Panel four, although you drew a nice shot of Johnny flying out toward us, this is the FIRST time in the story we see Johnny flying.  Buscema understands that, so he makes sure we see Johnny in full figure, flaming on, speed trail indicating his movement.  He also TILTS the building to make the angle more dramatic, clearly showing the city backdrop.

For PAGE 3 --

The original --

Flipping the artist's image for easier comparison side-by-side --

My comments to the artist: You drew just the Surfer's head peeking in.  You have the cops already in the room, pointing their weapons.  How did they know Surfer was going to be there at that very moment?  In your version, we cannot clearly see the doctor opening the door to let the cops race in.  Her body blocks the door and movement of opening the door. You turned the nurse AWAY from the action, rather than seeing and reacting to the action. And you drew another straight-on angle, with no sense of movement/urgency.

Analyze what Buscema drew:  He didn't just draw the Surfer's head.  There's enough of the Surfer in foreground, an expressive hand raised.  He's facing the woman and the cops, which yours was NOT.  Clearly the doctor is yanking open the door, the cops are racing in with their weapons.  The nurse sees what's happening and shields the patient with her own body. The angle of the room is tilted TOWARD the Surfer, adding to the sense of drama/movement.

Now PAGE FOUR --

Compared to --

Side-by-side --

My notes:  Panel one, You decided to focus on the Surfer, even though his gesturing is the only important element about him in this panel.  Most of the panel is about the cop and the nurse, warning the Surfer away.  But the way you staged it, much of the cop and nurse and patient are CUT OUT of the scene.  In Buscema's layout, the gesture is the focus, BUT we see the cop with his weapon and stern expression.  We see the nurse, leaning in forward to warn him away.  We see one arm holding her patient, protectively, and her other hand out, expressive.

Panel two, you chose a closeup, nothing else. Buscema chose a 3/4 full body shot, using expressive hands to emphasize that he is pleading with them to be reasonable.

Panel three, I'm not 100% clear what's going on in yours.  In Buscema's, it's totally clear that Surfer unleashes his cosmic power to help the patient, as the nurse reacts, her expressive hand visible.

Panel four, I don't understand why you drew the figures posed so incredibly bored.  We can't even see how the Surfer's reacting to being shot by the blast. In Buscema's, we see the reaction of the nurse, and the second cop, while the first cop dramatically whips around his weapon, firing at the Surfer, who is hit with the blast.  Look at his wide stance and flailing arms. This kind of panel is great for assembling multiple actions is one shot.  The wider the panel, the more time has passed.  The narrower the panel, the shorter the amount of time.  This schematic type of panel allows us to see Nurse reaction/cop reaction/other cop wide-stances, whipping weapon int position/firing/impact blast  from the firing/surfer's reaction at being hit -- ALL in one panel.  Strong, clear, powerful storytelling.

Then PAGE 5 --

With --

Side-by-side --

My analysis: I notice that you love centering things in the middle of your panel. Buscema does only occasionally; he'd rather try for a more dramatic composition.  Panel 1, you draw a down shot on a skinny Surfer who is looking down, away from them, not engaged.  Buscema drew a more powerful Surfer, head turned up to look at and speak to them, an expressive fist balled up even as he pushes himself up with his other arm.

Panel two, your Surfer seems to be firing beams from his eyes, which is not exactly what was described.  In Buscema’s version, Surfer is summoning up power.  We can see his expression of anger.  His hands are majorly expressive, as well, as if summoning a spell.

Panel three, you give us a back shot on Surfer and a really NOT dramatic panel. Buscema gave us the clear power blasts from Surfer's hands, the melting-in-mid-air weapons, the two cops' shocked reactions even as they jerk back in fear.

Panel four, you draw the Surfer just looking back over his shoulder to say something.  Compare with: Buscema draws a cop and nurse reacting to the Surfer's threat, the Surfer has leapt to the window sill, pointing angrily, the window open and the drapes whipping in the wind.

Understand that Buscema is drawing each page here in about 2 and a half hours.  So he's not spending a lot of time analyzing the script, he's just laying it down as clearly and dramatically as he can.

Remember, this analysis for you is NOT about your finished style.  It's only about the thinking behind your layouts. I figure you've never taken the time to study classic storytelling, so you're re-inventing the wheel in your own mind.  As such, you're not learning what can/should be done.

I hope this helps.

[cutesuki--bakugou]

What I Needed

@bnha-christmas2019 | Day 27: Company Party, “I thought you said you weren’t going to come>”  | Bakugou x Fem!Reader | Explicit | Cursing, Sex, Oral Sex, Alcohol Consumption, Soft Baku, Comfort, Confessions

Words: 7228 Genre: Romance / Angst / Humor

Please blacklist the tag cutesuki-lemons if you do not want to see this content from my blog. I will no longer be tagging with specific keywords for this type of content.Thank you~

Due to the nature of this post, the characters are 18+

Having his own hero agency was everything Bakugou had ever wanted. He had power, fame, popularity, influence and the high social status that came with being one of the top heroes in the county, just like he had always dreamed. In his late twenties, his life was exactly how he had wanted it, but there were some… responsibilities that he, in all honesty, despised. Fame came with the need to socialize, to have a decent relationship with not only his fans, but the people he worked with. Sure, this wasn’t the first time he had to throw a company party, nor was it the biggest he had ever done, but that didn’t make it any less irritating. 

A party to celebrate the holiday and new year weren’t anything to bat an eye at, especially not when it was open to any hero from any agency that wanted to participate. For less successful heroes or those still growing their reputation, who wouldn’t jump on the chance to party with the greatest heroes in the country? It wasn’t just Bakugou mingling around in the giant ballroom in the basement floor of his agency. Midoriya Izuku was here somewhere, as was Todoroki Shoto and others whom had grown the ranks with Bakugou from high school. There were even some older heroes present, old mentors and teaches. Friends and rivals alike were invited. 

And that included you. 

What were you to Bakugou, really? Were you a friend? A rival? Competition? His crush? All the above, if he were honest with himself, but calling you his ‘crush’ made him feel like a child. His feelings for you being just a ‘crush’ were a huge understatement. No, he had more than just a crush. In truth, he was head over heels for you, even surprising himself with how deeply he felt. 

It had been like this since high school. He hated you at first, as he did everyone, but there was something about you that called to him. Did he ever act on it? Of course not. All his focus was on school, on training, internships and pushing himself to the highest degree he could manage. He had no time for girls, even if you were nearly irresistible. It didn’t help that it had been obvious you were into him, too. Still, all your advances were ignored, until a barrier had grown between you and nothing was achieved outside of a mildly awkward friendship. 

It changed after you both graduated. For nearly two years, neither of you paid any attention to each other, until you ended up interning in the same agency. As adults, the spark was unmistakable. But Bakugou still couldn’t find it within himself to commit to a relationship, not when he was still working so hard for his goals.

That didn’t mean that he couldn’t resist you, however. Whatever relationship the two of you had was a physical one and nothing more. Fucking your brains out in the men’s locker room of the agency became almost a weekly occurrence, with many nights spent at each other’s apartments. Though, you could both admit, silently to yourselves, that there was something else there. The late nights watching stupid movies, stuffing yourselves with pizza and other shitty food, laughing and telling stories was proof enough. It was something Bakugou never wanted to lose. 

Until you both became independent heroes. Bakugou left you in the dust at first, refusing to show you even an ounce of mercy when it came to bringing in villains or numbers of rescues. Being in the same region didn’t exactly help that, as his goals to be at the top wouldn’t be derailed, not even by a woman he adored. At one point, he was positive that you hated him. Your tenacity and perseverance pushed through in the end, and you climbed the ranks just as he had. The entire world saw you as rivals, and so Bakugou figured that is what you should both stay. Rivals with a past and nothing else. 

Years pass with only business talk between you both, but lately, Bakugou could have sworn that spark was beginning to return. The way you looked at him and the sweet flow of your voice reminded him so much of your time together that he couldn’t resist falling for you all over again. All this time, no other woman he had slept with could compare to you, and it only grew worse the more you began to interact. 

Bakugou knew that he may have everything he ever wanted in a career. But in his personal life, there was something missing. A partner, someone to spend his life with and have a family. Out of all the women he had met in his life, who had tried to woo him and gain his affection, not a single one had come as close to the level of adoration he felt for you. Even still, there was the itch in the back of his mind that he had already burned that bridge long ago. How could you possibly still care or want him after all this time and all the grief he put you through? 

It was a shock to see you suddenly in the crowd of people, casually making your way to the bar with an already empty glass of champagne. That was enough to tell him that you had been here a while, so either you hadn’t seen him yet or you were just straight up avoiding him. If you were, then that bothered him quite a bit. He wanted to talk to you, to try and fix that he had broken between you. But if you didn’t want to see him, then was it really worth the effort? 

“Mr. Bakugou? Did you hear my question?” 

“Eh?” His attention on you broken, Bakugou’s gaze was pulled down to the woman in front of him, who was peering up at him curiously. She had been blabbering off to him for the past half hour, doing everything she possibly could to keep his focus and conversation. What she was really trying to do was obvious, with her low-cut dress and flirtatious body language. From what he had gathered, she was brand new to the hero scene, and she wanted to climb up the ladder based off networking and… sleeping with the big boys. He had considered going along with it, even though he barely remembered anything she had told him, but now he just didn’t give a shit. He just wanted to get away before he lost you in the crowd again. 

“I asked if you were planning on taking in any new interns. If so, I… wanted to get my name out there. Maybe we can talk about it in private?” 

“Uh, no. I’m not. Excuse me.” The way he pardoned himself was more like a demand to move, not bothering to pay attention to her whining as he squeezed himself out of the group he had been standing in. Thankfully, when he was finally free, he saw you still waiting at the bar, eyes on the bartender as they mixed up a drink. Sitting on a stool, you looked exceptionally elegant in your glittering dress, which hugged your figure. It came to a stop right above your knees, though the fabric was hiked up to your mid-thigh from your legs being crossed. The black hose you wore only hinted at the soft skin beneath, and how badly he wanted to touch you was almost suffocating. 

“Thank you!” You spoke with a smile as the bartender handed your drink to you, still not having even noticed Bakugou. “Getting a lot of business, are you?”

“Ah, yeah!” The young man spoke with a pleasant grin, beginning to dry out some glasses with a rag. “These parties are always a riot! And they pay well.” 

After taking a healthy sip from your drink, you leaned back a bit to sit up straighter. “I bet you’re getting amazing tips. You have to be at least a little tipsy at these parties. Especially if you’re dealing face to face with the host!” 

It was then that Bakugou decided to step in, clearing his throat as he came to sit beside you. “Excuse me?” 

“Oooh, well, speak of the devil.” A sly smile crossed your lips as if you had known he was there the entire time. Of course you had known, why else would you say such a teasing and rude thing to the little bartender? After two hours at this ridiculously rowdy party, you had finally found and gotten Bakugou’s attention. 

Finally. 

“I thought you said you weren’t going to come.” With a snap of his fingers towards the bartender, he got his attention. “Whisky.” 

Ignoring his command for alcohol, you stirred your own drink with the straw. “I wasn’t at first. But everyone was talking about how big this party was going to be and how it would look good for me to show up… I decided the networking and positive publicity was worth having to suffer through your presence.” 

Even though he felt a twinge of annoyance at your snarky attitude, Bakugou gave an amused scoffed, taking a hefty swig from his drink once it was placed in front of him. “You can bullshit other people, [Name], but not me. Don’t fuck around.” 

“You’ve done enough fucking around for both of us, Kacchan.” Your words were tinted with ice, even though there was still a flirty heat behind them. “How does it feel? To have so much fame that all these people come just to get a chance to introduce themselves to you. Or to have women on their knees in seconds. That poor little blonde you left over there; she must be very dejected.” 

“You know damn well networking irritates the shit out of me. And you’re no better. If I wasn’t sitting next to you, there would be men lining up just to be rejected by you. Why the fuck do you have to bring that shit up, anyway? Can’t we just have a normal conversation without you throwing that in my face?” 

“It’s all I was to you,” Your gaze left your drink to look up at him, the man that you adored more than anything. Yet, here you were, pushing him away again with your bitterness. You had already forgiven him, for pushing you aside and abandoning what life you could have had together for his career. He seemed to be making an effort… why couldn’t you? “What else would you want to talk about? Work? Ratings? Money? That’s all you care about, so if you want to boast, then go for it. I’ll pretend to listen like you do to those girls.” 

“In the past year that we’ve had more than a five-minute conversation, I’m pretty fucking sure I hadn’t said a word about myself. That’s you. You bring it up.” 

With his accusation, Bakugou could see your cheeks begin to flush, your frustrations with yourself showing themselves even so slightly. He knew that forced blank expression, that stiff posture as you tried to stay strong to not let your tough front crumble. More than anything, he wished that wall you had built around yourself would crack, even just slightly, to allow him in. 

“You’re the one that told me all those years ago that you only care about building your career and you wouldn’t let anything get in the way of that. So why are you even trying to talk to me right now, Kacchan? You have everything you ever wanted.” 

“That’s not true. Come with me.” Bakugou stood, picking up his glass as he did. “I can’t talk to you over this fucking shit music.” 

For a moment, you hesitated. You knew that if you were alone with him, you would break. All this time, you had refused to give him any more than a few minutes of your time, but it wasn’t because you hated him. You were scared that your feelings for him would explode the instant you were alone, that the craving to feel that happiness from all those years back would cause you to make a mistake. 

Would it be a mistake? Or would you finally feel complete again? 

With a sigh, you stood, fixing your dress back into place before snatching up your own drink and following him towards one of the many exits. Much to your annoyance, many people tried to stop you both to chit chat, or to keep Bakugou's attention as long as they could. Over and over, he either ignored or dismissed them, even people you recognized to be CEOs of huge corporations. Each time, your heart fluttered, softening your resolve until you were blushing fiercely. 

Out in the hallway, Bakugou gave a heavy sigh, relieved for the music to be muffled after the door shut behind you. “Finally… I hate that shit.” Taking a few steps forward, he pushed a button on the elevator, prompting you to glance up as the number began to descend. 

“Where are you taking me?” 

“To my office. No one but me has a key to get in. We can be alone…” 

“Don’t you think it will seem suspicious for us to go up there? People will talk.” 

“People talk anyway. People were talking the instant I sat down next to you.” Bakugou’s crimson glare set off that familiar fire within you, making you clutch onto your dress with your free hand. “You think people don’t know how we used to be? We weren’t exactly subtle…” 

“That was a long time ago…” 

“Five years isn’t a long time. Not to forget things like that between such high-profile people.” 

With a ding, the elevator opened in front of you, and with a vague gesture from Bakugou, you walked inside first. He stood beside you, and the instant the elevator door closed, the tension was almost palpable. But it wasn’t an uncomfortable tension, which you slowly came to realize as the elevator rose up to the top floor. It was a mutual wanting, some type of magnetic force that you were both fighting against with all your strength. He was so close to you, within your grasp and yet so far away. 

Could you really let him back in? 

Bakugou once again allowed you to exit first before following, sipping from his glass as he headed straight for his office entrance. This wasn’t the first time you had been up to this floor of his agency, but it was the first time you were going to visit his private office. Corporate meetings were held up here, just down the hall, and you had always wondered what was behind those double doors to the left. 

Pulling out his ID from his pocket, he held it up in front of a sensor, which went off with a beep and the click of the doors unlocking followed. Pulling the door open, Bakugou nodded for you to go in, silent and cautious. At first, you only watched him for any signs of regret or reconsideration, but you saw none. Even your own second thoughts were hidden in the back of your mind, so you entered, a bit surprised at the perfect and professional order of his office. It wasn’t quite what you expected, but then again, there were a lot of things about Bakugou that were unexpected. 

Most people would see him and instantly think ‘that man is a brute’ or ‘he’s absolutely vile’. Was he? Yes, absolutely. But there were things that only you had seen, that he would not dare share with another living soul. He had told you about his insecurities, his worries and his regrets. You had held him when he awoke in a panic, brought on by nightmares he couldn’t control. He had laughed with you about teenage memories, smiling with such sincerity that you were sure he must have been another person entirely. Even more special, the way he would caress you and kiss you with such a sweet tenderness you would just melt in his hands. He was gentle and loving behind all that explosive anger. 

Loving… Were we in love? I… never really thought it would have been possible… For him to love another person. Feeling your emotions swell a bit at the thought, you struggled to restrain the burning in your eyes, refusing to cry in front of him already. How could you possibly become that weak willed just because you were alone together? Had you really put on such a strong facade for the public that you didn’t even feel like yourself anymore? 

“People always assume I have everything just from what they can see.” Bakugou spoke after the door shut, gaining your attention and momentary distraction from your emotions. “This office. That’s all you see. Awards. Certificates. Success. Or at least, all what people assume success to be. And I’ve reached it faster than most… Because I worked so hard for it.” After finishing off his drink, he sat the empty glass down on the edge of his desk. 

At the moment, your sharp tongue was dulled, finding that you wanted to hear what he had to say. He was speaking so calmly, as if this was something that he had been waiting for, like his speech had been rehearsed in his mind over and over. That, or he was tired of hiding his emotions. 

Little did you know that both were true. Bakugou had thought about what he would say to you in a situation like this, how he would get his point across that he had made a mistake pushing you so far away. How he was going to tell you that he wanted you in his life desperately? With these desires, he knew that he couldn’t hide a single ounce of himself from you. If he did, he would lose you, and he refused to let that happen. So, no matter how embarrassing it was, how frustrated he was at trying to find the right words, he would fumble until he caught his footing. 

“I wanted this.” Bakugou gestured to their surroundings. “I wanted it more than anything. I wanted it so badly that I lost sight of something that I needed. That time with you made me happier than any of this shit that I have now. And I was stupid to not realize that back then.” He came up to stand in front of you, and by now, the burning in your eyes was uncontrollable. The instant is hands came up to caress your upper arms, you lost the slim control you had, the hot tears rolling down your cheeks. 

“I think about it all the time. How we could have spent all these years growing together. I was selfish back then… You were right to hate me for the things I did to you. For treating you like… just an obstacle in my path. Then, and now, I don’t deserve you. But I want you. And before you snap at me, it’s not just your body. I want your laugh, your smile, your support and happiness. And I want to give you mine.” 

Sniffling, you felt strangled as you tried to process his words. You could tell by the softness of his tone and his touch that he was being genuine. Bakugou, out of all people in the world, couldn’t lie without becoming a flustered mess. The truth was often even harder for him to admit, so the fact that it was coming out of his mouth so smoothly made your heart and stomach flutter. It was your turn, to tell him that you wanted all the same, but the words were lost to you. How could he admit his feelings so easily, while you were completely useless? Had you really built your wall that strong, that not even the person you loved with all your heart could get through? 

“Katsuki…” You finally got through with a hiccup, only able to manage a quick glance up at him. “Did you ever love me?” 

“Are you shitting me? Do you think I’d tell you all this if I didn’t? And what happened to ‘Kacchan’? Hm?” The snarky smirk that crossed his lips brought a more intense fire to your cheeks, giving a playful click of your tongue as he wiped your tears away with rough thumbs. 

“I only call you Kacchan when I’m pretending to be mad at you.” After setting your drink down on the nearby desk, you placed your hands on his chest, tenderly adjusting the collar of his nice dress shirt. “After all this time you still refuse to wear ties. Even to your own company parties.” 

“I hate them. I need to breathe.” 

“I think you just like looking like the bad boy.” You couldn’t resist stepping in closer as his hands fell to grip your hips, the heat of his body so irresistible. “You and your tough guy facade.” 

“Whatever. We both know you fucking love it.” 

“I do, Katsuki.” You caressed his cheeks softly, entire body tingling with the feeling of his hands sliding up your sides. “I never hated you. Never. Maybe that makes me stupid, too… But I always knew it…” 

“Knew what?” His lips were dangerously close to yours now, brushing softly as he spoke. Even his gaze was nearly crippling, already feeling your legs growing weak. He was so dangerous, so absolutely irresistible to you that there wasn’t anything you could do to control your wanting for him. Not anymore. 

“That you would come back to me.” 

With that, any restraint the two of you may have had was broken, lips immediately crashing into each other with a fierce and familiar passion. How long it had been didn’t matter in that moment. Bakugou knew exactly how to kiss you, how to hold your body against his and make your legs weak. The hot taste of whisky on his tongue made your entire body feel warm, starting from your core and spreading through each nerve. It was like every inch of you was on fire, the heat pooling between your legs as you couldn’t resist your arousal. Everything about him was exactly like you remembered, only… there was more. 

It was obvious to you that he had grown in experience and practice, even just from this short time together. Although you couldn’t help but feel a twinge of jealousy towards the other women whom he had relations with, you knew that from this moment on, if you accepted him, it would be only you. There would never be another woman or man between you, nor any career or goals. It would be you and him together, to be everything you ever wanted. And needed. 

“A-ah, Katsu--” You couldn’t resist a soft moan as his hands eagerly gripped onto your ass, even though it was immediately smothered by the kiss. His palms were so hot that you could already feel them through the fabric of your dress, only further reminding you of the things you loved about him. You didn’t know if it was because of his quirk or if it was just how his body was, but any time he got all hot and bothered, his palms would become unbelievably warm. It was never to the point that you couldn’t bare it, but it was just enough to melt you and make you crave to feel it against your bare skin. Tugging him backwards with a simple step and yank to the front of his shirt, you stumbled back until your legs hit his desk, the rattling of the ice in your drink barely registering in your feverish mind. 

The loud crashing and clanking of other miscellaneous belongings falling to the floor was just as ignored by the both of you, pushed aside with a single sweep of Bakugou’s arm. In nearly the same instant, you were turned, upper body forced down onto the desk from a strong pressure between your shoulder blades. One hand firmly on your back to keep you in place, Bakugou let the other travel down your side and to your hips. 

“Five years have done you a lot of favors, [Name]. Your body is fucking irresistible.” 

Unable to really move, you could only support yourself on trembling legs, entire being racked with excitement and anticipation at what he would do to you next. You could feel his cock pressing into your ass from beneath his pants, and you knew damn well he was doing that on purpose. It was just another way to tease you at what you had been missing all this time and what you desperately wanted. “Are you saying it hasn’t always been?” 

“Don’t be a smart ass with me. I’ve craved every inch of you…” With that, you felt the cool air of the office on your backside as your dress was pushed up to your lower back. Both strong hands moved to grope you and spread you open, an amused chuckle following. “Fuck, I can see how wet you are already. And no underwear? Were you expecting something?” 

The feeling of his thumb stroking against your sex made you shudder, nibbling at your bottom lip. Even through your hose, the pleasure of his touch was irresistible, softly gasping with each stroke to your clit. “Any time I see you, I always hope that you’ll want me again. It was an impulse… not to wear underwear. I thought that… maybe ton-- a-ah!” You were cut off by a moan, surprised by the sudden hot and wet pressure against your clit. Unable to see him well, you didn’t notice that he had knelt down until he made his presence known, running his tongue along your sex with the hose still in place. 

The sensation was odd at first to the both of you, but you couldn’t deny how good it felt. Even if he wasn’t on your clit directly, the cloth still grew taught against it with his movements, teasing you with just a hint of pressure. You wanted more so badly, but you knew begging wasn’t going to get you anywhere just yet. He was going to do whatever he wanted with you, and there wasn’t any point in trying to stop him, not with how badly you wanted this. 

Suddenly, there was a new sensation and sound. With a firm tug and the ripping of cloth, you felt your hose loosen from your body, splitting right down the middle seam to fully expose you. Bakugou had done it with his teeth, you knew his antics well, but that didn’t mean you were any less annoyed that he just ripped your favorite hose. “Hey, Katsuki! These are my-- ooh, fuck!” You dug your nails into the wood of his desk as he began to eat your out mercilessly, gripping onto your hips to keep you still. 

Turning your face more into the desk, you moaned and panted against the wood, the pleasure tingling through your body like hot sparks. Within minutes, you were brought to a leg shaking orgasm, your knees buckling. The only reason you stayed up on the desk was your upper body and Bakugou’s hands on your hips. 

“Fucking hell… I’ve missed seeing you cum like that. You always cum so hard for me.” Slipping his fingers beneath the hole he had made in your hose, he ripped them just a bit more, giving him full and easier access to your wet and twitching pussy. He could have just stared at the heavenly sight for hours, watching your juices drip down your thighs and onto the floor. Never had a woman get so wet for him the way that you did, always so hot and ready to be fucked from something as simple as a kiss. While he used one hand to stroke your folds and tease your swollen clit, his other moved down to his pants, loosening his belt. “Such a good little bitch. Tell me who you belong to.” 

“Y-you, Katsuki.” Body still recovering, you couldn’t resist the slight jerking of your body with his teasing of your clit. 

Once his pants were unbuttoned and unzipped, Bakugou began to stroke himself to the sight of you, spreading your pussy open with his fingers. “Have you ever had someone fuck you as good as I do?” 

“No, only you can make me feel so good. No other man can ever c-come close.” 

“No other man will ever come close.” Standing, Bakugou pressed his tip against your waiting hole, teasingly pressing into you until you were squirming beneath him. “Now tell me what you want.” 

“I-I want your cock!” 

“Beg.” 

“P-please, Katsuki! Please, fill me up and fuck me!” 

Leaning forward, Bakugou allowed himself to slip in just slightly. He pressed his lips against your flushed cheek, smirking against your skin. He loved seeing you like this, already completely smitten and hopelessly aroused. You’d do or say anything he wanted, and he knew that being treated like this was what turned you on more than anything else. “Harder.” 

His low voice in your ear made your head swim, becoming increasingly frustrated with the teasing. “I’m begging you! Please hurry up and fuck me, Katsu! My pussy is yours, please do whatever you want to me, until I’m ruined with your cum dripping down my legs! Katsu, please!” That sweet nickname flowing from your lips again after five years instantly flushed Bakugou’s chest full of a raging and familiar fire, both of his hands moving to grip tightly onto your hips. 

“That’s it, babygirl.” Slowly, his cock began to fill you up, forcing a gasp from your lips as you arched your hips up into him. The soft grunt he let slip near your ear instantly almost had you cumming again, looking up at him from the corner of your eye. Vision blurry with pleasured tears, you could barely make out the furrow of his brow, though the passion in his glare was perfectly clear. You were about to be absolutely ravaged, and you couldn’t wait a second longer. But you did, soaking in the feeling of each inch vanishing within you, filling you to the brim. “You want it so bad, then take it.” 

You were already trembling by the time he hissed the demand into your ear, knowing that if you weren’t lying down on the desk, your legs would have given out by now and you’d be sprawled useless on the floor. Already you could feel how full you were, his cock pulsing against your constricting walls and just itching to move. Unable to resist the urge himself, Bakugou sat up from you, hands gripping your hips tightly as he began to slowly and roughly thrust his hips. The first few thrusts of his cock inside you felt foreign, like you had almost forgotten what it was like to be fucked by him. But, very quickly, he found his rhythm, bringing back all those things you were familiar with. 

The hot slapping of skin. Burning palms. Fingers with a grip so tight you knew they would bruise. Sticky liquid coating your body, from sweat to your own juices as it rolled down your legs with each aggressive thrust. Bakugou’s grunts of pleasure, mixed in with your own uncontrollable moans. A deep presence within your womb, enough to make your stomach feel full every time he sunk his cock into you. The teasing words and name calling, forcing his dominance upon you in a way that made you completely swoon. 

In no time at all, you were cumming again, arching your hips up into his as you screamed and begged for the release you had so desperately missed. And then, in typical Bakugou fashion, he removed his cock from you, right on the edge of your orgasm. It faded away in a rush of tingles, and with some ounce of strength, you pushed yourself up onto your elbows to glare at him over your shoulder. 

“Seriously, Katsuki? You’re still into that edging shit?!” 

“Into it?” Bakugou smirked, grabbing you by both arms and forcing you back up onto your feet. His cock settled between your legs, pressing into your sex as he held your body back against his. With soft, slow thrusts, you watched as his tip vanished and reappeared again, stroking against your clit. Releasing one of your arms, the other came up to grip your neck, resting his lips at your ear. “I’ve mastered it, babygirl. And don’t try to pretend that you don’t love it.” 

Putting some pressure on your neck, Bakugou kissed and nibbled at the exposed skin of your shoulder. “I’ve missed seeing your expressions when you cum so hard after being edged over and over. The way your eyes roll back in your head… That crazed and satisfied smile on your lips. Your body trembling and jerking. Fuck, you’re just so damn sexy.” He used his free hand to pull the already low-cut neckline of your dress down, allowing your breasts to fall free. He increased the speed of his thrusting, giving a sigh of pleasure in your ear as he groped and massaged your breasts. 

Although the thigh fucking was a much slower pace than what he had been taking just a moment before, you couldn’t resist how good it felt just to be played with. There was no effort on your part, except for somehow finding the strength to stay standing. His lips on your skin. His teeth in your flesh. His hands on your breasts. His cock between your legs. All of it was sending you into a whole new round of bliss and almost the feeling of being… worshiped. Yes, it was for his enjoyment too, but each movement he made and shifting of his hips was to bring you pleasure. 

“K-Katsu,” you moaned out sweetly, reaching up to run your fingers through his hair. “I can’t believe you still remember how to play with me. What my body wants and begs for.” 

“I could never forget your body, [Name].” He paused for just a moment to allow his cock to slip back into your waiting pussy, watching your face as it contorted with pleasure. “Everything about it drives me fucking crazy. Not just your body, but you. All of you. I can’t stand the thought of being without you a second longer.” With a slight push from his thumb, you turned your head to meet his lips in a passionate kiss, which spurred his thrusts to go faster. He held your body back against him, one arm around your waist with the other across your chest, caressing your neck and playing with your breasts as he wished. 

You felt so close to him, so wanted and adored for the first time in so many years. In that moment, you decided it wasn’t enough. You wanted him closer. 

“Stop, wait--” With a slight push of your hand to his stomach, he stopped as instructed, even though confusion flashed across his face. Turning, you hopped up to sit on his desk, immediately pulling him closer and wrapping your legs around his waist. “I want to hold you, Katsu.” 

Another passionate kiss was shared as he picked back up on where he had left off fucking you, but his movements became rougher and more excited. Having you in this more intimate position must have spurred on his excitement, and that wasn’t anything for you to complain about. But, for you, there was a twinge of sudden reconsideration that you hadn’t expected. It came with a sudden rush of pure emotion, a raging storm that you had tried to keep at bay. 

Disbelief. Excitement. Remorse. Anger. Wanting. Fear. Passion. Love. 

Love. 

That’s what it was. 

As you began to feel another orgasm building rapidly within you, you released your grip of your arms around his neck to instead caress his cheeks. “Katsu,” With the soft mention of his name, his gaze caught yours, though he never lost his rhythm or pace in the way he was fucking you. You knew you had to get it out before you lost control of yourself again, barely able to speak against the pleasure that was only growing. “Katsuki. I love you. I-I’ve loved you since the beginning. I w-want to do this together. To be together.” 

Bakugou let his hand fall to your lower back, shifting your body closer to him to allow him in deeper. Leaning back a bit with his movement, you kept yourself propped up with one arm while the other was around his neck, clutching on tightly to the back of his shirt. At first, your eyes were drawn down to watch how he fucked you, until his words brought your eyes back up. Behind the haze of lust and pleasure, you could see it, the genuine adoration and love for you that he had been hiding all this time in fear. There was no more fear between you. Only hope and the prospect of true happiness. 

“I love you, [Name]. And from now on, I won’t ever let your stupid ass forget it.” With one more kiss shared between you, he immediately increased his efforts, fucking you so hard and rough that the already abused desk began to creak. The sound of your drink falling and glass breaking across the pristine tile floor was ignored; all focus the two of you could muster only on each other. 

You could feel it, building up within your core, and you couldn’t stop it from showing on your face. “F-Fuck, Katsu, I’m going to cum! Please! Please let me!” 

“It’s okay, babygirl. Cum for me.” With his words whispered in ragged breath against your lips, you couldn’t hold back another moment. As the ball that had grown within you exploded, you collapsed back against the desk, your voice squeaking with the powerful onslaught of pleasure. With full access to your hips, now, Bakugou held onto them tightly, fucking you through your orgasm. To him, it was a beautiful sight, your sweaty and ravaged body completely broken and at his mercy. Bakugou never wanted to stop, but before he realized it, his need to cum was suffocating. 

“[Name]...-” 

Gaining a moment of lucidity from hearing your name, you peered up at him, smiling as you rested your arms up above your head. “Come inside me, Katsu--” With your permission, Bakugou immediately grew more aggressive and erratic, your moans edging him on. “Please cum inside me! Fill me up with your hot cum, Katsuki!” 

Within moments, Bakugou did just that, tugging your hips against his tightly as he released inside you. It was so hot you could feel it, filling your womb and coating your still contracting walls. With his release, Bakugou let out a satisfied grunt, before sighing in absolute pleasure. From your view, he looked so worn out, sweaty with clothing and hair completely disheveled. You were sure that you looked exactly the same, but in Bakugou’s eyes, you were nothing but absolute perfection. 

With his cock still pulsing inside you, he leaned himself forward, propping himself up on his elbows on either side of your body. Softly, he moved some hair out of your face before his lips met yours. It was different now, a tender kiss that made your stomach flutter like you were a little girl in love for the first time. You wrapped your arms around him, running your fingers through his hair and softly stroking his back as he showered your lips, cheeks and neck with sweet affections. 

“This is what I’ve missed…” He spoke near your ear, low and calm. “This… gentle intimacy. You’re the only person I can experience it with- who I’d want to experience it with.” 

“My Katsuki… Me, too.” Now, the tears began to return to your eyes, so overcome with bubbly happiness and pure love. “I never want to lose you again.” 

“You won’t, [Name]. Never again.” 

With another sweet kiss, you were both suddenly startled by a loud buzzing in Bakugou’s back pocket, which reverberated through your still connected bodies. With an annoyed huff, Bakugou removed himself from you and allowed you to sit up and adjust your dress back over your breasts as he grabbed his phone to check the message. “Ah fuck.” 

“What is it?” 

“My assistant… I’m almost thirty minutes late for my speech before the gift raffle. Well shit.” 

Giggling softly, you looked down at the mess you had both made. Broken glasses, scattered office supplies, papers and even his name plaque littered the floor. “Well, at least we still kept all our clothes on.” 

With a click of his tongue, Bakugou headed over towards a door, walking inside. “I still have to fucking change, I’m sweaty as fuck.” His voice echoed, so you grew curious, following him in to see that it was a whole bathroom with a shower, tub and everything else that came standard. You followed him around a corner to see that he also had a full walk in closet, making you gasp in shock. 

“Damn, Katsu! Think you have enough space? Do you live here?!” 

“Of fucking course I don’t.” Bakugou glowered at you, stripping off his shirt before stepping out of his pants. “I just have extra clothes.” 

“Won’t people be suspicious if you come down in new cloths- oh. You have the same exact ones.” 

“Always have to be prepared, [Name]. I just… don’t have an extra dress for you. Or hose. Sorry.” He smirked at you as you looked down at your legs, the hose you wore soaked with liquid and torn all the way down to your thighs. Huffing, you pushed them down before plopping yourself onto the toilet, relieving yourself as you took off your shoes. 

“My dress is fine, it’s my hose that I’m upset about! These were my favorite ones!” 

“I’ll buy you more. Are you taking a piss?!” 

“You’re lucky I didn’t piss all over your desk, I’ve had to pee for like an hour.” 

“And I still wouldn’t want you to leave.” 

Smiling, you rolled the ruined hose into a ball and put them in the trash, cleaning yourself up with toilet paper. Once done, you put your shoes back on, flushed and went to wash your hands. While you were doing so, Bakugou emerged back from the closet, back dressed just as spiffy as he had been before. Coming to stand behind you, he wrapped his arms around your waist, giving your cheek a soft kiss. “I’m happy you’ve forgiven me, [Name]. That you want me back…” 

“Of course I do, Katsuki. These few years just made me realize that… I can’t be happy without you.” 

“Me, too.” After another kiss, he went to the other sink, grabbing a toothbrush and squeezing some toothpaste onto it. 

Confused, you wiped your hand on a towel, before attempting to fix the mess your hair had become. “What are you doing?” 

“Brushing my teeth. I can’t exactly go back to a party with my breath smelling like whisky and pussy, now can I?” 

“Nah, you should. It’ll keep all those girls away.” 

“You being on my arm will keep them away enough.” 

“Touché. Going public already… Bring it on.” 

“You got it, babygirl.” 

[moczothe1st]

Let’s Play Fire Emblem IV: Genealogy of the Holy War, Part 23: An Altenuous Situation

Part 22

Welcome back to another week of Let’s Tolerate Thracia.  …. I mean, let’s play Fire Emblem IV.  When we left off, we had just recruited the world’s worst hostage, and were about to send him back to save his doofus father.  Let’s check out our new kid!

So here’s Cairpre. He’s… he’s certainly around.  His Major Bragi holy blood and all those staves in his backpack should be enough to tell you he’s actually the second child of Claude and Sylvia, making him Lene’s younger brother.  How he ended up in Thracia, away from his sister and adopted by Santa Claus, will have to be a story for another time because right now we’re summarizing his unit and he’s… okay.  Basically another Claude. He starts off at level one, which is not as big a problem as it could be because he should never, ever be in combat anyway, and comes in with several long-range healing staves that will make his level shoot up fast. He’s just another healer, really. Not a bad healer, but nothing super impressive. 

He starts the long walk back to his adopted father to recruit him while Patty just keeps right on stabbing some helpless dude, like a hero.

Good job, Patty! The healer down south of her who kept patching that guy up should push her over the edge to another level, and she’ll be close to promotion.  And with him gone, other units who were busy keeping her target standing still can move to clear out Hannibal’s castle.

Mook: If you wish to claim it, you must first claim my life!

There was absolutely no need to do that. He’d have disappeared peacefully when I recruit Hannibal anyway.  I just wanted the free experience points.

Patty is learning to become a cannon lately, huh? When she promotes she’ll just wreck people.  Lana also gains a level from warping our remaining promotion candidates back to home base to pick up their new clothes, with Lene’s help. 

Your mom would be proud, sweetie. But not as proud as I will be of our four shiny new promotes!  

Oh, that’s beautiful. Tinni in particular is a standout here, because promoting to War Mage lets her use swords (which… no), Staves, and pushes her Thunder rank up to A so she can finally buy her mom’s old Thoron tome.  

And Patty is here too! Cairpre even gains his first level just from zapping the army with his Fortify staff.  A good one, too. I’m so proud-ish of him.  And from here, Seliph is finally close enough to recruit Altena…

Altena: My brother, Prince Leif, has explained the truth to me, and I can no longer oppose you. If you please, I’d like to join your ranks.

Seliph: Princess Altena?! … Ah, yes. That’s right! Prince Leif has told me everything, and we’ve both prayed you would come… He’ll be so glad to know you’ve joined us. You’ve made a difficult but wise decision.

(I like the implication that the entire drama with Altena was something Seliph knew about, but just kind of slipped his mind.)

Altena: … I can still scarcely believe this has all happened. And yet, the moment I gazed into my brother’s eyes, I understood everything.

(Platonically! She was gazing into his eyes platonically! God, I hate that I feel the need to specify that.)

Altena: His eyes revealed my father’s warm gaze…  and as clear as if it were yesterday, I felt for a split second as if I was swaddled in my mother’s gentle arms…

(PLATONICALLY!)

Seliph: I admit I’m still not entirely sure what King Travant was trying to do with you. I still cannot see what would have led him to spare you and bring you into his home after murdering your parents…

(… It was the holy spear of the gods that only she can wield. Why do so many people have trouble grasping that?!)

Altena: I’ve heard he once told my brother, Arion, that he sought to use the power of Leonster’s holy lance, Gae Bolg, as his own. For that alone, he needed me…

Seliph: You were little more than a tool to him?

Altena: I… I’m still not entirely sure. For all his cruelty, he still treated me as if I were his true daughter.

(… When?)

Seliph: Did he, now… I suppose I’ve never known much of his ways.

(That’s cool, neither did the writers.)

Altena: I must as a favor of you, milord. It’s about Arion… we need to help Prince Arion!

Seliph: Certainly! I’m hardly eager to fight a man of his fine caliber, if what I’ve heard is true. The only question is, can we convince him?

Altena: I’ll do my best to persuade him again. All I ask is a little time. Please, milord!

… and having had that dopey mess, also let Cairpre recruit Hannibal.

Cairpre: Lord Seliph freed me from Luthecia!

Hannibal: Cairpre?! Y…you’re safe!

Cairpre: Yep! Listen, Papa…. I want to join Lord Seliph’s army. Thracia’s changed so much lately…. I want to fight to help all of its people, and bring back the old Thracia!

Hannibal: Heh… you’ve grown into a splendid young man, Cairpre. Very well! I, too, shall serve Lord Seliph.

Cairpre: Yes! Thank you, Papa! First we’ll help free Thracia, and then together, we’ll challenge the Empire!

See, Altena? That was a nice normal discussion that didn’t make either of them look like total doofuses who weren’t paying attention to the war they were in. Ah, well, let’s take a look at the newbies.

So here’s Hannibal. He… well, let’s not mince words, he probably wasn’t worth the effort of recruiting him. He’s not a bad unit, inherently, being a General with Pavise, Vantage, and Adept (though with only 11 speed, it’s unlikely he’ll be activating that third one very often). It’s just that the majority of his stats are only ‘decent’ at a time in the game when many units are approaching ‘godlike’, and like Arden before him, he has a lower movement range than everyone else in a game where you’ll quickly find yourself wishing everyone would just get a horse. He’ll get a little use, but honestly most of the time he’ll be staying at our home base to make sure no random reinforcements sneak up and steal it from under us.

And after two borderline duds, we finally get our shining diamond of the map.  Altena is a monster; even unpromoted her stats are already mostly equal or better than Hannibal’s, and she’s got more levels left to gain than he does with better growth rates on top of it, thanks to coming with two different Holy Blood types, Major Nova and Minor Baldur.  She’s also a flying unit, meaning Fee no longer has to go everywhere alone, and comes into the army carrying all of Quan’s old spears, including the truly awesome Gae Bolg coming at last back to our hands after we barely got to play with it last time.  It may not be the almighty nuke that Forseti or Balmung are, but +10 each to Strength, Skill, and Defense is nothing to sneeze at.  Our two combatants can now head into nearby castles to face the Arena. I suspect… there will be slight differences in performance.

Altena: Seven wins, gained two levels: +3 HP, +2 Strength, +1 Speed, +2 Defense

Hannibal: Six wins, gained one level: +1 Strength

One of these two had a better performance. Though, in fairness, Hannibal getting creamed did let Lana gain a level from healing him.

Much better!  Okay end turn.

Legion of Doom: I suppose it was unavoidable… Fortify our defensive line. Until reinforcements arrive, we must defend the castle at all costs.

Brock from Pokemon: Heh, no matter. The rebels’ little rampage ends here. Ready, men? We’re going in. The Emperor himself’s put a handsome bounty on each rebel head. We mustn’t waste a chance to claim it for ourselves!

So there’s our next issue. The invading Grannvale squad to the north is fairly nasty. Entirely composed of promoted cavalry units and packing two healers with them; they’re hard to wear down in a single turn, and if they all get a shot at the same unit they can definitely take out all but our strongest kids.  So, you know, don’t let that happen.  To the south, at Grutia castle, is almost the opposite; a veritable swarm of ballistae, so Fee and Altena can’t even really get close, and a Dark Bishop with a siege tome. Once we get close to them they’ll break like cheap glass, but getting there can be risky, to say the least.  We’re going to split up; it’s a bit tricky, but in general the ballistae are not a huge issue compared to the bishop miniboss, so anyone who goes for the southern castle mostly has to have enough resistance to take a shot from him, or enough speed and luck to reliably dodge him. I go with Seliph, Leif, Nanna, Ares, Larcei, Shannan, Julia, Arthur, and Lana.  The rest of the army will be blocking off the pass to stop the incoming cavalry. Ideally, we’ll get a situation where we can split their attack across several people and then crush them on the return trip.  A few turns over movement, and we find ourselves…

Not even close! Everyone was too far away, and that first one snuck up on me real good.  I didn’t realize I’d put Lester at the edge of someone’s movement. I was so caught off guard I didn’t screenshot the combat (he dodged. Go archery!).  So our first step right now is to back the Hell up.

…

Well, okay, second step.

That’s for swinging at my squishy horse archer, jerkass. I draw back everyone to create a battle line that’s split in the middle by the castle; this should be drawing out a big chunk of the enemy without letting them focus fire on one character. End turn!

Not bad, other than the fact I forgot to equip Finn with his big-people spear and he got a little creamed. Cairpre, care to patch the team up?

Good kid. Rest of the team, rock out!

…. I really dislike that we couldn’t kill that fucking mid-boss. He hits like a truck and he’s annoyingly fast. I… don’t want to end the turn. I see it going badly. But… *sigh*… let’s see…

…. Yeah, I knew that was gonna happen. I knew it. Dammit. Reset.

Okay. This time, we are going to be brave and run away. Once more, kill the outer layer and flee. Go, my brave cowards!

And with this, the only character in the boss’s attack range is Arthur, who is parked in the castle and wielding Forseti. Yes, I am a vindictive person.  End turn!

… That’s it?!  You didn’t even take a shot, you fucker! Fine, fine, Arthur will come to you.  

Congratulations, Musar, you managed to land a single blow.  That is more than most of the foes he slaughters can achieve.  Arthur also gets the droppable Tornado tome from this boss, meaning he can sell the Elwind he’s been using for his sister to pick up later, or maybe it can go to Lana after I get a chance to promote her, haven’t decided yet. Cairpre even gains another level after healing Arthur’s boo-boos.

Good kid! Not very bright, but talented in his own way.  Now, hey, who wants to slaughter?

*sniff* Not bad at all. All that remains of this enemy force is one healer that Patty can chew on to her heart’s content. I have Lana warp Lester back to the home base to promote, and on the next turn she can do the same to Arthur.  This army is really coming together!  To the north, I’m going to let Cairpre have most of the villages; he’ll need money to repair his staves after spamming them to gain levels on this map. Lana will too, of course, but she…

Has a booooooooooooyfriend. Ulster is rolling in cash and he’ll only be getting more, since he barely needs to spend anything these days, relying on nice normal swords instead of legendary money sinks, so I’ll just have him give Lana all his wealth next turn.

Now, to the south, it’s… *sigh*… time to wade into the Ballista Storm, I suppose. This will be annoying, so I’m just gonna smash it as quickly and brutally as I can; Ares, Leif, and Seliph, go right for the boss and kill.  Everyone’s on a horse so they should only have to spend one turn being shot at before they reach and take out the boss. Eeeeeeeend turn!

And you know what, let’s just stop there? It’s like seven more shots of just that.  I hate ballistae so much.

Judah: This world is Lord Loptyr’s to smother in darkness!

I appreciate that I somehow managed to miss the cool-looking part of the Fenrir spell and got the weird hit-flash moment where the whole screen turns randomly blue. Now then, our turn, and let’s try to end this fast.

*whistle* Leif, I always forget just how much of a monster promotion turns you into.  Up to the north, meanwhile, we still have an army.  I know, I forgot them too.  

You do you, Patty. While Patty torments a priest… again… Lene takes this time to chat with her newly-recruited and long-lost brother that she doesn’t actually know.

Lene: Wait, you’re from Darna too?

Cairpre: You’re familiar with Darna, Lene?

Lene: Yep! I grew up in the abbey there. They told me my mom was a dancer, who left me there when I was about two years old. That’s why I’m a dancer now. I was thinking that maybe, if I did the same thing as her, one day I might find her again.  It’s kind of embarrassing, but I taught myself everything I know about dancing.

Cairpre: That’s really great of you, Lene! I, er, guess I thought wrong about you…

Lene: Not a big fan of dancers, Cairpre?

Cairpre: Not really…. At least, not unti I met you, Lene.

Lene: Awww! Thanks, Cairpre!

Cairpre gains +1 Luck from this, because…. Look, you need to stop asking questions. I also choose not to zap Arthur home after all; he doesn’t need his promotion, and I want him to shut up and marry Julia already, so I’m gluing them together for now. Maybe they’ll hook up, maybe they won’t, but either way I’ll demand they sex who they are told to sex. Instead, Lana just heals someone and levels…

And Lester takes his promotion.

Not a super impressive promotion, but… a promotion. The turn ends there, and the enemy phase is a desperately sad event, with ballistae firing and missing again and again. It saddens me. I’m sad.

Look at that! Even Oifey doesn’t respect them.  

In any event, Patty finishes bullying the clergy and Cairpre zaps her…

And we dismantle some siege equipment.

And that’s that! The current section of map is over, so I take a few turns to move folks around; Cairpre starts trekking north to get his fortune, while the rest of the army splits up, most of them heading south to hook up with Seliph and co., but Patty, Ulster, Lana, Shanan, Tinni, Faval, and Altena are staying in the north to reinforce our assorted castles.  Thracians are tricky and they can fly, so you can’t leave your castles unattended for a second on this stupid map. The first time I played I actually managed to lose all of them but Meath just through sheer force of stupid.

And it is on this exciting note that I leave you for the week, gentle readers. Seliph, will you play us out?

(You may remember the previous update wherein Arion just suddenly turned into a rampaging douche. That state of events has stuck.)

Lewyn: I suppose that stubborn dracoknight pride compels him to fight to the bitter end.  I was hoping the legendary Arion of Thracia would be a wiser man than this… Seliph, I hope you understand we can’t turn back now. This last battle needs to be fought.

(Well, yeah, dude, his family has been trying to kill us for two weeks while we politely ask them to go away.)

Seliph: I don’t understand him. Why would Arion insist on fighting such a futile battle… how can he be so callous? Does he not understand the grief he’s inflicting on Altena?

… And hey, for once, Lewyn doesn’t spout some pseudo-philosophy at us! This really is a bright note to leave an update on. See y’all next week!

Total Resets: 27. I knew that boss was a bastard and I still let myself get caught off guard. For shame, me.

Part 24

[lj-writes]

Finn handles a blaster like no one else

Do you want to talk about how badly The Force Awakens shortcharged Finn’s character? One thing that no one to my knowledge is talking about is his phenomenal skill with blasters. This is LucasFilm’s fault, not the audience’s, because it was shown right on the screen but never properly foregrounded.

I don’t mean the time he picked up starfighter gunning with a ten-second tutorial, then combined that with lightning-fast tactical judgment in a thirty-second firefight to get himself and Poe out alive while still minimizing Stormtrooper casualties. No, that was an amazing scene that blurred by too fast for almost any reasonable viewer to fully appreciate, but it wasn’t… what’s the word… unthinkable.

What’s unthinkable, and what passed right under the audience’s noses because LF filmed it but didn’t emphasize it, is what Finn does with a handheld blaster. As I will discuss, his style at least as shown in the battle at Takodana is very different from the way we’ve seen the heroes use blasters but also different from the way Stormtroopers use them, combining his training with his own astounding skills and strength.

I hesitate to even call this style “good,” because it could be very bad indeed for certain purposes, e.g. survival. It does, however, showcase his athleticism and sheer boldness in a breathtaking way.

This is hard to tell, though, on a casual viewing because it goes by so fast and is treated more as background action to Poe’s aerial acrobatics than a focus in itself. I didn’t realize just what was so special about this sequence until I did a deliberate comparison with how other characters and groups used different types of blasters in different situations. Let me explain below the fold just why Finn’s blaster style shown here is incredible and unique.

To start the comparison, let’s take a look at how some of our heroes use blasters in TFA. We have Poe Dameron using a high-powered blaster rifle at Tuanul Village on Jakku, picking off Stormtroopers from the outside.

Note what he’s doing here, taking cover, using both hands to aim and to steady the powerful rifle, bracing the stock against his shoulder to handle the recoil. He did break cover later on when Lor San Tekka was murdered, but that was in a moment of (completely understandable) emotion.

Then we have Han a.k.a. General Solo, veteran of the Rebellion and old-time smuggler, showcasing some blaster wizardry:

He stays low with little in the way of cover, and though it’s obvious he has devastatingly good aim and reflexes, he stays in place at least when he is aiming. His blaster pistol unlike Poe’s rifle can be handled and aimed with one hand, and is held out front for better reach and aim rather than hugged close to the body to absorb the greater recoil. Later on Han is also seen steadying the pistol with two hands from behind cover.

Exhibit C is Rey defending herself and BB-8 from Stormtroopers, using the pistol Han gave her.

Despite some false starts, she is obviously a talented beginner with good judgment. She fires from the cover of the woods, and runs deeper in to gain distance and cover when a trooper fires back. Since she is outnumbered, going into the woods also has the effect of breaking up pursuers who could overwhelm her in the open. She gives ground rather than running to meet the attackers because her goal is to get BB-8 away.

To recap, we can deduce some general “rules” from the way we’ve seen our heroes use blasters: Take cover whenever possible or stay low, fall back if it meets your tactical objective, stay in place when you aim. Rifles are handled with both hands and braced against the torso, pistols can be handled with one hand.

We see a somewhat different paradigm with the Stormtroopers, starting with the assault on Tuanul. They put offensive over taking cover to preserve themselves, since they have the body armor and their individual well-being is nowhere as important as being an unstoppable attacking force. The Rebels of Rogue One IIRC fight more like this in the battle at Scarif when they are taking ground offensive, though I don’t have specific footage on hand to confirm that.

So take a look at how Stormtroopers fight, marching forward at a steady synchronized trot, not bothering to stay low or find cover before shooting despite clearly being under fire from the defenders:

They often shoot while running toward their targets, as seen more clearly in this example:

Their standard-issue blaster, the F-11D, is nowhere as heavy and powerful as Poe’s or Chewie’s weapons, but they still aim and use it two-handed and close to the body. What their rifles lack in power they make up for in maneuverability and lightness, since this is an infrantry force that has to keep on the move and probably very few of them have the strength of a Wookie–or of Baze Malbus, for that matter.

It’s usually only when they need a free hand to manhandle some future war-crimes victim that they hold their blasters one-handed.

So, to recap, Stormtroopers as a primarily offensive force fight differently than the primarily defensive heroes in this movie, in that they keep on the move and don’t take cover as much. They use both hands when firing, and hug their weapons close.

Now let’s return to Finn. When he and the others are freed from the Stormtroopers he immediately searches for a weapon, and loots a Trooper’s body for what appears to be their standard issue rifle from its appearance.

From the comparison with the full-size image of an F-11D you can recognize the scope, the black-and-white coloring, the grip and foregrip from the weapon Finn has secured for himself. This weapon would have been both readily available and familiar to him.

Now take a look at how he uses that thing:

See how he uses the exact same blaster rifle, the weapon we’ve seen Stormtroopers shoot two-handed and close to the body, but he uses it like we’ve seen Han and Rey use their pistols–in one hand with the arm stretched forward. Despite not steadying the longer bore of the rifle, however, his aim is rock-solid and he never misses.

So he aims with one hand, aims, and hits while his enemy is taking aim at him. In fact he does it twice in a row, absorbing the recoil like it’s nothing, not against his torso like any normal person but with his wrist and arm. He does this so quickly that he can line up his next shot perfectly in the space of turning toward an enemy. And he does it so fast he’s quicker and more accurate aiming a blaster rifle with one hand than an enemy who was already aiming at him two-handed.

And then, a little later:

You can see him use his Stormtrooper training, which is only natural. He acts like he’s still in full-body armor, not bothering to take cover, moving to meet his enemies. Someone needs to remind him he left that armor behind in the junkyard Jakku, and one (un)lucky shot is all it would take to bring him down if he keeps doing that.

On the other hand, Finn also fights like no other Stormtrooper we’ve seen. There’s the one-handed aim, again, but he’s no longer trotting at a measured pace but sprinting. Toward an enemy who not only has his weapon trained at him but has already gotten off a few shots. He’s being shot at and he’s not diving for cover, he runs toward his shooter, so cool and steady he gets the guy in one shot mid-run.

This is not rational behavior if you want to survive a battle, though if you’re good enough you might be able to unnerve your enemy and disrupt their aim by your unexpected reaction. Finn is clearly that good.

These two short bursts of action speak to levels of training, reflex and athleticism I can’t easily fathom. It means Finn is strong enough and coordinated enough to handle and aim a blaster rifle one-handedly, his reflexes are so good he absorbs the recoil without bracing the gun against his body, he’s so bold he actually runs to an enemy to surprise him, and he’s so cool and calculated he makes surgically precise shots while being shot at. This last is also a trait we saw in the hangar escape scene, though at that time with a weapon Finn was untrained in.

There is nothing in the TFA script to indicate that Finn was going to do anything unusual in this battle. The script at this point has Finn crow about Poe’s skll and doesn’t call for him to shoot anyone at all at this point. I will have more to say later on about how Finn is shortcharged compared to the directions in the script, to say nothing of the editing and focus of the scenes he’s in, but in this one case he actually overperforms the script.

I’m not even entirely sure Finn was intended to be this incredibly overpowered shooter who breaks all the rules the movie set up for firefghts. Maybe this was an improvisation on John’s part that went uncorrected. Given the layers of direction, retakes, and editing the production would have gone through, however, and the fact that what’s on the screen is on the screen no matter how it got there, I’m inclined to think this footage says what it seems to say: That Finn is scary good with a blaster.

This is fully consistent with the background information about Finn from Before the Awakening that he was the best of the best, the top 1% of every evaluation, the shining example of what the program could be. It’s information that the film failed to include, but explains so much about his abilities and the First Order top brass’s reaction to his defection, as @the-bi-writer and others have pointed out.

Finn doesn’t display this kind of rash, unconventional use of the blaster before or after this scene. He fought like a conventional Stormtrooper at Tuanul and later, at Starkiller Base, uses a higher-powered blaster rifle with both hands. He had to conform to First Order military doctrine while he was stil a Stormtrooper, obviously, and may have realized that he couldn’t keep doing this gun-fu stuff if he wanted to live long. Still, in that in-between space between his Stormtrooper days and the start of his Resistance career, the Takodana battle still showcased his outstanding talent and skill with a blaster and I hope to see more of Finn with the weapon.

While Finn is often depicted as an unthreatening everyman character, it’s clear from scenes like these that he is far from ordinary. He is a highly-trained military badass of the highest order, and I can’t wait to see more of this aspect of him.

[evansclinchy]

A supposedly fun thing I'll probably do forever

One of my favorite pieces of writing I've ever come across - perhaps my very favorite - was a lengthy essay that the late, great David Foster Wallace wrote a long time ago about tennis. Well, he wrote many. To be more specific, this one was entitled "Tennis Player Michael Joyce's Professional Artistry as a Paradigm of Certain Stuff about Choice, Freedom, Discipline, Joy, Grotesquerie, and Human Completeness"; it was originally commissioned by Esquire in 1995, later republished in his essay collection, "A Supposedly Fun Thing I'll Never Do Again" in 1997 and popped up again on Esquire's website shortly after Wallace's death in 2008. In 2016, it found its way into another anthology, "String Theory: David Foster Wallace on Tennis," released in May.

It's odd that I hold this particular piece of writing so dear, as I've never really been into tennis, at least not as anything more than a casual fan. And if you ask most readers, his piece on Michael Joyce isn't even considered his good tennis piece; Wallace the tennis writer is much better known for his "Roger Federer as Religious Experience," which ran in The New York Times Magazine in 2006. That was a once-in-a-generation writing talent at the peak of his powers chronicling a once-in-a-generation tennis talent at the peak of his, and there's nothing quite like witnessing greatness and greatness converge. That's what gets me about "Tennis Player Michael Joyce," though. It's not about greatness at all. Michael Joyce retired with a career record of 46–67 and only once advanced past the second round of a Grand Slam tournament. Wallace didn't write about him to profile someone great; rather, he was exploring what it's like to be good-but-not-quite-elite at something. He was probing into that weird gray area between futility and immortality, and I've always been fascinated by what he found. To me, the most profound line in the piece has nothing to do with tennis, at least not specifically. It's more of a general musing. "You are invited to try to imagine what it would be like to be among the hundred best in the world at something," Wallace writes. "At anything. I have tried to imagine; it's hard."

In the summer of 1995, Michael Joyce was the 79th-best tennis player in the world. Wallace dedicated 9,800-some-odd words, not including his trademark bevy of footnotes, to exploring the essence of his 79th-ness. He focuses on one match in particular - played early in the qualifying rounds of the '95 Canadian Open between Joyce and a college kid named Dan Brakus, whom Wallace describes as "a very good tennis player." Brakus is good but overmatched. He can serve 118 miles per hour; Joyce, meanwhile, can return that serve and then stay two steps ahead of Brakus the rest of the way, perfectly reading the geometry of each shot and outmaneuvering him point after point. "It's like watching an extremely large and powerful predator," Wallace writes, "get torn to pieces by an even larger and more powerful predator."

Joyce, meanwhile, is just as overmatched if not far more so when he takes on a real world-class player - like, say, Andre Agassi. It becomes apparent after a while that Joyce is a bit obsessed with the superiority of Agassi, who was in the midst of a 30-week run as the world's No. 1 player at the time. The word "Agassi" shows up 46 times in Wallace's profile, remarkable given that the profile isn't of him. Joyce spends his entire life pursuing greatness at tennis, yet he remains keenly aware the whole time that there's someone else on another level entirely, a level that he'll never reach. "Every once in a while," Wallace writes, "Joyce will look over at his coach next to me in the player-guest section of the grandstand and grin and say something like, 'Agassi'd have killed me on that shot.'" You get the sense that everything Joyce does is calibrated against this impossible standard. It's unreasonable and maybe borderline insane to compare yourself to the world's No. 1 at anything when you're No. 79, but Joyce seems unable to help himself. Among the Dan Brakuses of the world, Joyce is a god, but he always seems to have one eye on the bigger names above him. He's hopelessly stuck in the middle, and he's devoted every fiber of his being to reaching that middle.

So.

I play Scrabble. This is something I've put a great deal of my time and energy into for the last decade; my 10-year anniversary is coming up in May. It's something I've gotten pretty good at, all things considered. Of the 161,293 entries in Collins Scrabble Words between two and nine letters long, I've learned damn close to all of them (though plenty fall through the cracks in my brain, often at inopportune times), and strategically, I've developed a pretty good sense of what I'm doing (though lapses happen, and they can be quite ugly). I try to be self-aware about my aptitude and skill for the game and to stay honest about my abilities without being arrogant or - arguably worse - falsely modest. Right now, I'm ranked as the 36th-best player on Earth. This feels right to me. I'm confident I can beat most everyone outside of the top 40 consistently; I'm also mindful of how thoroughly outclassed I still am by many of those above me. Like Michael Joyce, I'm stuck in the middle.

Over the last eight months, give or take, I've come to realize how frustrating it can be when you're stuck in that good-but-not-quite-elite zone in Scrabble. To wit, I've had a string of good-but-not-quite-elite finishes at big events, dating back to mid-2016. At the national championship, I ranked second with two rounds to play, needing just one win to hold onto that spot for good; I went 0-2 and slipped to fourth. At the world championship, eight players cracked the playoffs, and I was competing in the eighth-place game in the final round; I lost and fell all the way to 16th. At a pair of mid-major tournaments in December, I went to sleep on the final night in first place; both times, I woke up the next morning and was beaten back down to second. At another pair in March, I suffered blowout losses in the late rounds that knocked me out of contention. Outcomes like this hurt, but they're also par for the course in my position. When you're almost the best player but not quite, you're sure to have plenty of results that reflect that.

These results are painful in and of themselves, but they're made even more so by all the effort it takes to achieve them. Being good-but-not-quite-elite is hard. You have to be born with a certain degree of aptitude to reach that level, sure, but a whole lot more than 36 people on Earth have that aptitude. The other pieces of that puzzle are a lot of hard work, a lot of mental energy and, frankly, a quite deliberate rejiggering of one's priorities in life. It's hard (impossible?) to reach the almost-top level of Scrabble without diverting a good deal of time and focus away from other things that are probably far more worthwhile. All of this just to be 36th, reaping all of the sort-of-glory-but-not-really-glory that comes with that.

Wallace writes at length about this same problem manifesting in Michael Joyce - and more broadly, in everyone who plays tennis at the same level. He argues that in a way, the problem is all of our collective faults for creating this culture - one in which we praise players for their successes while largely ignoring the process that makes them possible.

"Americans revere athletic excellence, competitive success, and it's more than lip service we pay; we vote with our wallets. We'll pay large sums to watch a truly great athlete; we'll reward him with celebrity and adulation and will even go so far as to buy products and services he endorses. But it's better for us not to know the kinds of sacrifices the professional-grade athlete has made to get so very good at one particular thing. Oh, we'll invoke lush clichés about the lonely heroism of Olympic athletes, the pain and analgesia of football, the early rising and hours of practice and restricted diets, the preflight celibacy, et cetera. But the actual facts of the sacrifices repel us when we see them: basketball geniuses who cannot read, sprinters who dope themselves, defensive tackles who shoot up with bovine hormones until they collapse or explode."

To equate my own struggle with those of any of the athletes Wallace alludes to above would be foolish. Obviously. I'm no hero, and luckily I can read decently well and need no performance-enhancing drugs. But on a smaller, less dramatic scale, I understand the rhetoric there and can relate to it. I think a lot about my sacrifices. I think about what I could have done with all the hours I've spent studying dictionaries and analyzing games. I ponder the choices I may have made differently if I'd prioritized "real life" more and focused less on preparing for the next tournament. There were job opportunities I didn't bother to pursue because I wanted more time to study (and more freedom to travel to tournaments). There were, to be candid, romantic relationships I allowed to stagnate because I wasn't as focused on them as I could have been.

I don't have any regrets, per se. My life's decisions are what they are, and they've made me who I am. I like myself, mostly. But this stuff is still interesting to think about.

It resonates with me when Wallace goes into depth about the impact of the sacrifices the Michael Joyces of the world make - specifically, how they tend to narrow the individual's worldview and dull his personality. He references the "vapid and primitive" quotes that athletes give in postgame interviews as a symptom of this - sporting people speak in dull clichés, he argues, not because they're stupid, but because they've channeled their intelligence into one very specific thing. This makes them great at that thing, but at what cost? That's the question. Wallace describes this life choice as "consent to live in a world that, like a child's world, is very small." I find it hard to dispute this.

I submit that in Scrabble, this world is even smaller. At least on the tennis court, you're playing a game that has some sort of connective tissue with the outside world. Millions of people have played tennis at least semi-avidly and developed an understanding for its complexity. Millions have also watched Federer on TV and seen the awesomeness of his abilities. They know he's on another level because they've seen it firsthand. They've watched him work his magic and thought to themselves, "Wow, I could never do that." Scrabble is different because so few people in this world can (or, should I say, choose to) grasp or contextualize what it means to achieve expertdom. The work that goes in behind the scenes - the countless hours of studying and analyzing - is anonymous and thankless and understood by painfully few. There aren't many people who know the drudgery of reinforcing for the 87th time that the word in AEGIMNSV is VEGANISM, or poring over the results of 2-ply simulations and reasoning out why this play is better than that one. And why should they? It takes a lot of discipline to keep learning words and a lot of self-flagellation to continually question your strategic thinking and challenge yourself to improve. Sometimes, this journey is exhilarating; other times, it's just lonely.

It's not that nobody understands the highs and lows you go through - but those who do, you're trying to kick their asses. That's the paradox here. There aren't many people out there who can fully, empathetically understand what it takes to win at Scrabble, and there aren't many who genuinely feel 100 percent happy for you when you win. The number of people who fit in both categories at once is mighty close to zero. So who are you playing for? Who, if anyone, are you trying to impress?

When describing the scene of a Canadian Open qualifying match, played between the world's 79th-best player and someone else below that level, Wallace writes that "The applause of a tiny crowd is so small and sad and tattered-sounding that it'd almost be better if people didn't clap at all." This sentence is depressing but wonderfully written, and it feels applicable across the board. It might be the Qualies in Montreal or Table 4 at the Nationals - the logic works just the same.

The difference is that the guy in the Qualies is playing for a chance to graduate from the Qualies and be something more. Wallace makes a point of the fact that even some of the all-time great tennis players began their careers in those sad, seemingly inconsequential play-in matches - even Pete Sampras, before he became Pete Sampras, had to compete at the Qualies level at first. There's a sense of satisfaction, I imagine, that tennis players feel when they make that climb from good to transcendent. But in Scrabble, what is there to transcend? Even if you're Nigel Richards - and last I checked, only one person alive is he - what are you fighting for? To prove to a small cadre of people who have mastered something that you've mastered it even better?

Plenty of people have given compelling reasons why they play. They play because they love the game and they love the people in it. The enjoyable gameplay and enduring friendships keep them coming back. That's all well and good, but it's not what I'm asking. There's why you play, and there's why you compete. They're two entirely different questions. That might seem to some like a small distinction, but it's one that's changed my life.

There's no shortage of past top players who have walked away because they've hit a wall and lost the desire to continue competing. One famously wrote in the early 1990s that he was quitting because "there's little satisfaction in beating someone whom one should beat regularly." More recently, one expert penned that "There are virtually no extrinsic motivators in Scrabble" while walking away; another quipped that "It's a law of diminishing returns," putting in more and more time to make less and less progress up the ladder. All of these are valid complaints, and compelling reasons to give the game up.

Me, I acknowledge all of the above statements to be true - and yet for some perverse reason, I use them to justify why I'm still here. A shrink would have a field day with this. Even though the games start to blur together and the results often feel proforma, I keep playing. Even though there's very little to keep motivating me - and almost certainly not enough to justify the amount of time I put in - I keep working at it. Why? I'm really not sure. At the risk of begging the question, playing Scrabble is what I do because it's what I do. I've come this far over the last 10 years, and turning back just doesn't feel right. I've already irreparably warped my life to center it around this dumb game; I might as well make the most of this bizarre situation.

At the end of his long essay, after a brief interlude to reflect on watching a few of tennis' bigger names like Jim Courier and Michael Chang and Mats Wilander, Wallace returns to his discussion of Michael Joyce. His closing paragraph describes Joyce as "a complete man, though in a grotesquely limited way." He asserts that "already, at twenty-two, it's too late for anything else; he's invested too much, is in too deep. I think he's both lucky and unlucky. He will say he is happy and mean it. Wish him well."

Those last three words - "wish him well" - have always haunted me a bit. It's unclear whether they're meant as a statement of Wallace's personal sentiment (as in, "I wish him well") or an imperative to the reader ("You should wish him well"). Wallace weaves back and forth between the personal narrative and the persuasive argument, and I've never been sure of what note he closes on here. But no matter. The point is that when you devote seemingly your whole life to a given pursuit, be it tennis or Scrabble or whatever else, it has a strange way of making your life feel both complete and incomplete. It's immensely gratifying yet intensely painful. At this point, I think that's the feeling I'm stuck with. Wish me well, if you care to. I'm not sure what difference it will make. I plan to continue on, until I inevitably someday collapse or explode. Or, you know, maybe something a bit less apocalyptic. We'll see.

[operationrainfall]

Title Ara Fell: Enhanced Edition Developer Stegosoft Games Publisher DANGEN Entertainment Release Date March 26th, 2020 Genre RPG Platform PC, Mobile, Nintendo Switch, PS4, Xbox One Age Rating E for Everyone 10+ – Alcohol Reference, Fantasy Violence, Mild Blood, Mild Language Official Website

It’s kind of remarkable I didn’t play Ara Fell a lot sooner. After all, a friend gifted me the original game at least a couple years ago, where it quickly got lost in my massive Steam backlog. But then something wonderful happened – Stegosoft Games went and remastered the original game as Ara Fell: Enhanced Edition. That same friend suggested I review it for the oprainfall site, and I’m incredibly happy I finally listened. And while you could make the argument I would have enjoyed this whimsical adventure sooner, I’m glad I waited. Because Ara Fell: Enhanced Edition is just a much smoother, easier to access game with the same meaningful story intact.

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For all intents and purposes, Ara Fell: Enhanced Edition is the same game that was reviewed on the oprainfall site 4 years ago. However, there are some key differences. The battle system has been revamped, the user interface for menus is really easy to parse, and they even added new character classes and skills, apparently. They also upgraded the systems present in the game, such as crafting and enchanting, added difficulty modes, a handy autosave and more. While I wasn’t able to compare and contrast these changes much, not having played the original, I did find a few videos online, and I can say the UI has been wonderfully streamlined. Battle menus aren’t clunky, and it’s clear and obvious what your options are, and even in what order attacks will happen. And while I’m not usually a fan of crafting, here it’s very well implemented. All you need is to buy the recipe for an item, have enough of the requisite ingredients, then hold A to craft. You can craft single use items, as well as upgrade your equipment to provide better stats for your team. Enchanting is also very easy to do, and works pretty much identically. The key difference is you can attach up to 4 passive enchantments of your choice to character equipment, such as increased health, critical hit rate, the capacity to poison with regular attacks and much more. By contrast, crafted items have set properties.

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Steve was dead on when he said the game is one of the best RPG Maker games ever. I honestly didn’t even realize this was a RPG Maker title at first, since it has such polish and poise. Sure it looks like an old game, the same way Chrono Trigger looks like an old game. Meaning this looks totally authentic to a certain time period, and that’s not a complaint. Ara Fell: Enhanced Edition could easily have been a touchstone RPG from the 90s, chock full of heart, great gameplay and a really interesting story. Take it from a wannabe fantasy author, that last part is hard to do, especially in a genre full of cliches and overused tropes. And while the story isn’t the most complex, it also does a great job of introducing key elements organically and tying them together in a satisfying arc. The tale revolves around a floating continent, a mysterious relic, elves, vampires and one fierce young woman. I don’t want to ruin it by saying too much, but trust me that it’s a joy to experience, and the lore of the world of Ara Fell is really intriguing.

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A large reason I enjoyed the story of Ara Fell: Enhanced Edition so much is because of the characters that populate it. Lita LeCotta is the spunkiest, most deadpan little tomboy you could ever want. She’s delightfully snarky and full of personality, with hilarious one liners aplenty. What I especially love about Lita is that she fights against the mantle of hero, and just sees herself as someone that stumbled upon her destiny. But her strength of character, determination and desire to protect her loved ones makes her truly heroic. Or take Adrian, Lita’s childhood friend who has grown up in harsh circumstances, yet found the drive to become a knight. Sure he gets taken by the occasional schemer, but he’s always there to protect his friends, and he may even have some feelings for Lita. Then there’s Seri Kesu, a strong and beautiful sorceress with some serious hard edges. She’s a master of her craft, and her only weakness is one bad relationship that’s soured her to this day. Finally there’s Doren, a mysterious turban wearing bard that’s immensely passive aggressive, and who seems to have a surprising reservoir of knowledge of ancient times. It’s a great cast, and their interactions make the whole story a delight to experience. Even the villains set against them are complex and unexpected. All in all, the entire cast of Ara Fell: Enhanced Edition makes for a very compelling tale.

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None of that would matter if the game wasn’t fun to play, but I can say that Ara Fell: Enhanced Edition is a glorious retro RPG. I played on the normal difficulty, and found the combat easy to understand, yet challenging. It’s turn based, with an ATB showing the turn order. One unique aspect is the Injury system, where your character is weakened if they perish and are revived, and only fully recovers by healing at an Inn or other safe location. As the game progresses and your team fills out, the challenge scales accordingly, but I never found anything unbalanced. It’s really fun and hard to put down. You select attacks and engage the foe, and as you battle your Ultimate bar fills up. This allows characters to use super powerful attacks against the foe, but you can’t rely on these. Each character’s Ultimate takes a different amount of time to charge, and your entire team uses the same Ultimate bar. So once I use any Ultimate attack, the bar resets. Thankfully, you have a lot of control over how your team grows, and even can tweak how they fight. Every time you level up, you are allocated points to distribute to various stats, and the game clearly tells you what each corresponds to. I decided to focus on making Lita a speedy assassin, while I supercharged Seri’s spellcasting at the cost of her speed and defense. As you wander the world, you’ll find magical stones that an be used to augment your character’s abilities. At first all you can do is make them more powerful, but once you have fulfilled their class quests, your options blossom. You can pick from one of two advanced classes for each character, with pros and cons. Once that’s done, you can choose branching options for your abilities, such as Adrian’s Whirlwind attack healing your team, or Doren’s Holy Light affecting all foes. You can even tweak their Ultimate attacks, allowing for a lot of customization options. By the end of the game, I had a really powerful team that was capable of taking on any foe without worry.

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The combat is a lot of fun, but so is just exploring the world of Ara Fell: Enhanced Edition. Normally I don’t like getting lost in games, but this one was built to accommodate exploration and reward you for it. You’ll constantly come across natural resources you can harvest for use with crafting and enchanting. Lita will grab fish from the water, pluck leaves from various plants and mine ore from cavern walls. I just wandered and wandered, and probably spent a good extra 4-5 hours enjoying myself. It’s fun to jump across ravines, crawl through narrow tunnels and swim all around. The world of Ara Fell is a big one, and it’s truly beautiful. Since the entirety of the game takes place on a floating continent, you’ll see eerie sights like waterfalls descending hundreds of miles, or haunting ruins suspended in mid air. Yet, as much as I explored, I only got lost a handful of times in my 20+ hour playthrough. Once was late in the game when a group of damn faeries got me mixed up, and later I couldn’t find the class quest for Doren. Thankfully most activities are well signposted, and you can always check the pause screen for a reminder where you’re supposed to go for continuing the main quest. The only optional quests that were really flummoxing to locate were the various Bounties, of which I only managed to find half.

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Visually, this is a really attractive game. The portrait art for the characters does a great job of expressing their personality. Meanwhile, the overworld and sprite work is both faithful to the retro focus and eye catching. Pretty much all the enemies are distinct, with no color swapped nonsense. The game runs at a smooth clip most of time, and I only had very few moments of slowdown, and only while exploring. The music does its job. I wouldn’t say it was the best soundtrack ever, since it’s mostly low key, melodic and occasionally haunting. If you’re coming here for snazzy rock and roll tracks, don’t bother. But all the music and sound effects do their jobs well, if perhaps without much distinction.

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Honestly the biggest negative for me is that Ara Fell: Enhanced Edition ends at all. I really got lost in this wonderful RPG world, and was sad to see it end. I know I love a game when I even enjoy the puzzles in it. Thankfully there’s an epilogue after the credits roll, which does a decent job of tying up plot threads while still leaving room for a potential sequel. Suffice to say, I really hope Stegosoft Games has a sequel in the works, cause I desperately want to return to this fascinating world. If you love classic RPGs and want something you can get lost in for only $14.99, look no further. It’s easily one of my favorite RPGs of 2020 thus far.

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[easyreview cat1title=”Overall” cat1detail=”” cat1rating=”4.5″]

Review Copy Provided by Publisher

REVIEW: Ara Fell: Enhanced Edition Title Ara Fell: Enhanced Edition

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Marvel for Dummies

In June 2018, Chatting with how the MCU television collection might be impacted via the events of Avengers: Infinity War, Loeb famous that "In most cases our tales will occur before Thanos clicked his fingers. Loads of which includes to try and do with creation and when we are telling our stories compared to when the films arrive out. Derrickson and Waititi were being the two eventually hired for your films.[127] For Captain The us: The Winter Soldier, Joe and Anthony Russo met With all the studio four occasions around two months prior to they had been hired, for the duration of which they "retained acquiring Increasingly more precise about what our vision was", putting alongside one another "reference films, storyboards, script webpages, you title it. 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The Fact About Marvel Future Fight Mod APK That No One Is Suggesting

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[ciathyzareposts]

The Golden Wall of Science Fiction

Posted by Rampant Coyote on September 4, 2018

I grew up reading stories from the “pulp era.” I also grew up playing Dungeons & Dragons (well, once I turned 12… so reading predated the playing by a little bit). Until I read Appendix N by Jeffro Johnson, I didn’t realize there was a connection between the two. When I first started playing D&D, it was pretty much “anything goes.” Science fiction, fantasy, horror, whatever…  it all worked. Old-school D&D was like that… as was old-school pulp. I didn’t consciously realize this, it was just the attitude reflected in the rules and game modules, in the articles and letters in Dragon magazine, Polyhedron, and similar periodicals (ah, the days before the Internet). It was on the covers of Heavy Metal and White Dwarf magazine. And it was part of my favorite films, the original Star Wars trilogy, featuring space wizards with magic swords battling it out with space ships and giant walking robots blasting it out in the background. Awesome stuff.

At some point, I became a purist. Fantasy was fantasy and science fiction. I sneered at an aquantance’s D&D campaign that featured knights wearing powered space-armor and lasers. Nevermind the fact that I’d had plenty of fun years earlier playing the science-fiction-themed official D&D module, “Expedition to the Barrier Peaks,” or that I still used the totally broken SF-themed psionics rules for 1st edition Advanced D&D. At this point, young Jay Barnson thought he knew everything about everything, and damn it, science fiction was different from fantasy! I resented how the later entries in the Wizardry computer game series (and the early Might & Magic titles) mixed space ships & magic. How silly! Okay, maybe they weren’t handled well, but I was against the principle!

And then I got older. More experienced. Played more games, watched more films, read more fiction both modern and classic. And the voice inside my head finally said, “Screw it.” Probably the same voice that heard Clarke’s Third Law too many times: “Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.” I realized the wall between science fiction and fantasy was a lot thinner than I’d thought. Where had it come from?

The answer is, in part, John W. Campbell. A science fiction author to who took the helm of Astounding Stories (formerly Astounding Stories of Super Science) in 1938, changed its name to Astounding Science Fiction, and emphasized science-driven stories as opposed to pulp adventure stories with vaguely scientific rationale to make the plot work. This wasn’t entirely a new approach. That wasn’t too dissimilar to Hugo Gernsback’s approach with launching Amazing Stories more than a decade before. Interestingly enough, by this point, this marketing decision set Astounding Science Fiction apart from Amazing Stories, which was in my perspective the point. Campbell made the focus on harder science stick, in part because he paid top dollar for stories, compared to the rest of the pulp market.

Campbell ran the magazine for a long time afterward, eventually dropping the “Astounding” and rebranding it “Analog,” the name by which it is known today. But the beginning of his tenure marked what is frequently called the “Golden Age of Science Fiction.” This all came at the right time, as the severe belt-tightening of the Great Depression came to a close, and the specter of World War II arose. People were desperate for an inexpensive escape, and pulp adventures filled the bill nicely. The relative optimism of science fiction of the era didn’t hurt. The idea that men with screwdrivers could engineer solutions to seemingly insurmountable evils as well as any hard-hitting action hero was refreshing and welcome. Campbell’s marketing focus came at a good time. Science fiction grew in popularity, and other magazines sprang up emphasizing science fiction with various levels of Campbellian “hardness.”

It is my belief that this exerted a pretty strong influence over the writing community. As a writer, you need to maximize your chances of both making a sale and selling to the highest-paying markets. It’s how you put food on the table. Since the “slicks” rarely purchased stories with unrealistic elements, your best bet would be to target Astounding and to try and meet Campbell’s standards. Even if you were rejected, you could then submit elsewhere. Amazing Stories might still publish something that felt like an Astounding story, but the converse was not true. So the “Golden Age” erected a wall between “Science Fiction” and everything else. If you didn’t meet Campbell’s standards, not only was your story not Astounding material, but it might not even *gasp* be science fiction at all! Oh, noes!

That didn’t stop Planet Stories or Amazing Stories from publishing all kinds of character-driven tales of space princesses and heroic derring-do throughout the solar system and galaxy at large, or calling it science fiction. So it wasn’t a universal change. Snobbish readers referred to these “other” stories as “Space Opera,” hoping to smear it with association to “Soap Operas” and “Horse Operas,” but today the description has lost most of its negative connotation. So there. The assumption persists that the harder SF of Campbell’s tenure was superior and more “mature” than that of the earlier or competing pulps.

At once point, the assumption was almost uncontested, but there’s vocal disagreement today. But that’s only by the people who actually read those older stories…

But that’s primarily where the modern division between science fiction and fantasy came from. The “Golden Age” was a golden wall. Was it a good thing? I’m not sure. For me, I think it was a good thing insofar as it gave a boost to “hard” science fiction, yet remained porous and easily crossed. Where it caused the snobbishness and this idea that fantasy chocolate and science-fiction peanut butter should never be mixed, maybe it wasn’t so great. For my part, most of the science fiction I’ve read came after Campbell began his reign, and there’s a lot I love. Some of that might never have been written had Campbell not encouraged it through his high bounty on hard SF.

But then, what is “hard” SF? What qualifies? Honestly, a lot of the stuff that seemed pretty hard back in the day and tied into then-modern theories of how the universe worked come off as being pretty bizarre and fantastic today. A lot of the stuff written in the mid-20th century is alternate history today, dealing with timelines that never came to pass, theories long disproven, and mixing antiquated technology with things that still don’t exist. Even Andy Weir’s “The Martian,” a recent classic of hard science fiction that has enjoyed well-deserved mass-market popularity, is starting to feel a little quaint with the latest science and technology. When I was a kid, planets were thought to be rare, and dinosaurs didn’t have feathers. Science is a journey and methodology, not a destination. This makes it ripe for imaginative stories, but not so great for hard divisions between it and fantasy.

But I’m all for fuzzy, blurred lines, inviting all kinds of variety across the spectrum by virtue of their existence. I don’t want to argue about whether Star Trek: The Next Generation‘s godlike Q or premise of “we’ve evolved past needing money” is more or less fantastical than the Jedi and the really strange size / distance scales of Star Wars. I don’t think The Martian or Interstellar are inherently superior to Guardians of the Galaxy or Wonder Woman by virtue their scientific plausibility. I want stories in the middle and at the extremes.

And yeah, I’m okay with D&D games with powered battle-armor, and with the Dark Savant orbiting a fantasy world in a space ship. It’s all good fun.

Filed Under: Books, Dice & Paper, Retro – Comments:

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[esportsrush-blog]

Dota 2 Guide: How To Play With Arc Warden

Post URL - https://esportsrush.com/dota-2-guide-how-to-play-with-arc-warden/

Dota 2 Guide: How To Play With Arc Warden

Arc Warden has been in the game for a while. However, people have still not understood how to play the hero. Below is a detailed guide about how to play the hero. Pros:

one of the best snowballers in the game.

strong teamfighter, very strong pusher.

wrecks hard disorganized pub teams.

very good against non-unit heroes if left 1v1.

late game rat menace.

Cons:

early ganks slaughter his progression.

against unit heroes like Broodmother (his no.1 counter) immediately swap lanes.

He's a very immobile hero that's extremely positioning dependent. Most of the fights you take are already decided by how good you placed yourself and your Tempest.

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="1024"] Credits Devian Art[/caption]

Skillset

FLUX - deals damage over time when there are no units around the enemy. Try to use it at lvl2 to harass your enemy in the lane.

MAGNETIC FIELD - provides full physical evasion to everyone inside the field. Buffs you, neutrals and your team with attack speed (tower ignores evasion on the creeps).

SPARK WRAITH - aka techies mine. use them sparingly because they're mana costly. If people are dumb enough you can stack them near a tp spot in the tree, they tp into it sometimes.

TEMPEST DOUBLE - Sixth man off the bench, you cannot use consumables on him. He shares full stats with the real Arc Warden. Rapier isn't cloned anymore. Whenever you summon him try to use his mana to the fullest. (for instance you're jungling, kill the smallest creeps first, use the Flux from the Tempest on the biggest creep)

Arc Warden is not an easy hero to master. He's easier than Meepo, but harder than Invoker. If that makes any sense. Microing him and the Tempest itself isn't really a hassle. It becomes hard when you get 6(7) slotted. That being said he's extremely item dependent.

Extremely Item Dependent

After getting an Aquila and Boots, you're buying a Midas. ~2100 gold for an item that gets you to your second farming (and fighting) item, Maelstrom, which is ~2700 gold. That's nearly 6.5k early gold for farming items. Compare that stupid amount for any other agility carry:

Slark: Shadow Blade, Treads, Aquila, Wand ~5.6k early gold and he's pretty much ready to fight.

Phantom Lancer: Wand, Treads, Aquila, Diffusal blade ~6k gold and ready to fuck shit up.

Arc Warden with those items can only properly set up to farm up the next core items that allow him to actually fight.

This guide is divided into few sections which cover up when to pick him, laning, items, skills and talent progression.

Draft

His hardest counters are those who can get into your face - Slark, PA, Spectre and illusion based heroes like CK and PL. But if they got into your face, you're not playing him well. Positioning is the key in those matchups. Also, try not to pick him up against those pesky 5man-group-up-and-push-together lineups. First 15mins you're completely useless to your team so you will have a hard time catching up. He absolutely wrecks every 1v1 mid matchup (except Brood) if you're skilled enough.

Honorable mentions that don't stand a chance against Arc are. Sniper, Shadow Fiend, Zeus, Skywrath, Clinkz, Ember and Storm pre level 6 and pretty much any melee hero that shows up.

Skill Order

Skill order depends on the matchup. Obviously, at 6 you are 3-0-2-1 which works great against any hero. If you're against an Invoker, you will have to take a different approach and go 1-1-3-1 to be able to trade hits and kill off his forge spirit. My choice of skills is 3-1-1-1 if you've managed to deny a lot from them and establish the level difference. That kind of skill build allows you to bait them into your Magnetic Field which can bring you some pesky kills pre level 5.

Proper Combo

You always flux first. It guarantees spark not missing them when they run away. 1 is the Main, 2 is the Tempest.1Q, ULT, 2Q, 1E, 2E and 2W to finish off or protect yourself when diving the tower. The reasoning behind this combo is mana conservation on the real Arc.

Talents

LVL10:+8% CD reduction, It really proves it's worth later when you're TPing everywhere.

LVL15: I'm a firm believer that Flux range is superior to HP talent. Being able to Flux them as they flee from the fights or as you approach the fight from across the screen is OP. Also, you almost always never want to be in the middle of a fight with the real Arc. Imagine real Arc as a backline Sniper and his Tempest as an Axe. Tempest is meant to soak up the damage. Although, against PA, Slark and WR I pick up the HP talent and an early Blademail.

LVL20: Attack range. I see that Icefrog meant some kind of support/caster Arc Warden coming into the play with the CD reduction on the sparks. It is doable with the level 25 talent. But physical Arc Warden is always preferred since he scales much better into the lategame.

LVL25: Well if you're constantly fighting take the +30 lifesteal. If you wanna play a worse version of Techies, take the spark dmg buff. It's good when the enemy supports don't expect it. You stack upto 3-4 sparks and they're probably dead. But since we're in lategame, pickoffs are very often rare. People group up and march down mid with the creeps. So, there are games when it's good and games where It's criminally bad to take it.

Laning

Mid 90% of the time. 10% safelane. The reason for taking the mid is solo XP and the pure potential of killing their mid over and over again. Once you hit lvl6 - it becomes 2v1.

When mid

Start with Wraith band, Branch, Faerie fire and 2 pooled tangos. Blocking your creeps every wave is very important to be able to harass them properly. Your last hitting ability is crucial those few first waves. Try not to waste level 1 mana and completely focus on your last hitting. Sub 3 min Aquila is a must. Follow it up by naked brown boots. You will need a ward to be able to see them on their ramp. This is probably your first power spike if you catch enemy offguard (not close to their creeps). You flux them and chase them down.

Some people advocate on getting Phase Boots. I haven't experimented with those yet but I believe that +24 dmg *2 units does make a difference early. In my opinion those boots are a waste of gold that early on since you need BoTs very early to contribute to your team. When you hit level 6 this is where the fun starts. Remember the part where I've said to always block your creeps a bit? You do this so their ranged creep is in the river, not on top of their ramp. This allows you to place a zoning spark wraith behind the creeps.

This way enemy has 2 choices: eat up a spark or not get close to it. He eats up a spark: instakill with the above said combo. He stands there and doesn't do anything: you deny everything and lasthit everything. If you have vision of him highground and at least level 3 flux you can attempt the combo above. If you manage to catch the first flux, which is very likely to succeed.

Other small tricks are to never stop harassing them with right clicks (try not to aggro their creeps). It's very frustrating for them because you have a superior attack range in most of the cases. It makes them pull back from the creeps which again leaves you with kill opportunities. There is also a trick if you fail to block your creeps. Hit the ranged creep 2 times and place level 2 spark on them. If enemy stays close you combo up. It's all mind games from there on. Finish up your Midas after you've gathered those 3-4 kills.

When Safelane

you will be behind on XP, but once you reach lvl6 tell your supports to leave, same principles above apply, harass them and zone them out with sparks

The transition from Early to Mid Game

Your objective is to bring down their mid tower. From there you TP to the weakest sidelane and help them bring down another tower. With that amount of map control you finish up the Maelstrom and farm BoTs. Try to realise that this itemisation is most common in 99% of the games. If you're against a pushing lineup I'd rather get a Mjollnir to be able to deal with them.

Mid Game

You got your Maelstrom and the BoTs sub 18mins or even less. Now what? Split push like a maniac? Join fights? These great questions don't have great answers. It's really tough to judge as a beginner what you should be doing. Communicate with your team. I always tell them that I will probably spend 3-4 more minutes farming up a Mjollnir by split pushing.

Try to TP to the outskirts of fights. Park your real Arc Warden behind and spam spells with him, while microing the Tempest in front. Never, ever come in as 2 unless you're completely sure that Slark is on another side of the map. Or that they don't have gap closer heroes capable of backlining you. In lower bracket games people seem to believe that the Tempest is an illusion so they don't expect him dishing out full damage while ignoring him. He's the 6th hero on your team. So to sum it up, fight with your team, gain map control, jungle their wards, ward their jungle, etc.

Itemisation

You can build whatever you want to. He's such a diverse hero. SnY and Manta? E-blade and Dagons? Gotcha fam. Situational builds aside, go to build, after Maelstrom and BoTs is as follows:

Blademail, SB or Pike, Mjollnir, Orchid, Nullifier --- constant fighting build against gap closers or spell spammers

Mjollnir, SB or Pike, Orchid, Nullifier, MKB --- true right click build

Some games demand a Force Staff (Riki smokes, saving your teammates, double forcestaffing yourself out) while some allow for using SB to infiltrate their jungle and picking off their carry. It's really up to your playstyle. I've found equal success with both, sometimes I even get both. BKB is often that 7th item in your backpack. Don't fear to get it. If you're against a Slark, I suggest getting a Hex instead of the Nullifier (has a projectile time, Hex is instant and not purgeable). In most cases Nullifier is preferred since it boosts your damage output.

Late Game

As I've said in the beginning, Arc Warden is a late-game menace. You can always keep 2 lanes pushed in. You will probably sit on 10k gold while being six slotted. Buy your carry a Moonshard if possible. With the acquired map control get the Aegis on your carry. While pushing in try to keep your team under Magnetic field since it gives them the attack speed. If you're defending try to reach their backlines with the Tempest (Shadow Blade or Force Staff). Always keep a track on your buyback status.

Bonus Tips

Try to synergize first few Midas usages (earlier maelstrom)

Getting chased and nowhere to run? place yourself near any trees and field that place so you can tp out or kill them

Learn to double forcestaff yourself, very useful skill

Don't be afraid to bring yourself any sort of regen, going back to fountain is the worst outcome

So this is it for now. Feel free to discuss this guide and add some tips on the abysmally low-picked hero. If you've got any questions feel free to discuss here.

Dota 2

Arc Warden, dota 2, Hero guide

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Avengers: Infinity War Review

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_gallery type=”image_grid” images=”29503,29517,29504,29505,29506,29507,29508,29509,29510,29511,29512,29513,29514,29515,29516,29533,29534,29535,29531,29529,29526,29532,29523,29525,29518,29519,29520,29521,29522,29524″][vc_column_text]It’s finally here!! Ever since the initial release of Marvel Studios ‘Iron Man’, the goal was to build up through multiple characters and films toward “Marvel’s The Avengers” which at the time took the long running tried and true concept of the comic team-up and proved that such an idea could work on film and be successful. From moment of the mid-credit scene providing our first very brief glimpse of Thanos on screen, the goal has been to build up further all the way until Marvel Stud10s “Avengers: Infinity War”, which from conception to release has been close to a decade in the making. If “The Avengers” was a team-up, “Avengers: Infinity War” is the equivalent of an epic crossover event, and proving in broad strokes that this too can not only work on film, but succeed. So much so that it makes the two previous Avengers films look small by comparison; which says a lot and it once again challenges audience expectations of the genre.

The sheer scale and ambition of “Avengers: Infinity War” is unprecedented in cinema to this point and many would have previous thought impossible. The level of secrecy on this movie alone has been unlike many others, all in an effort to provide the movie going audience with something truly special …until the next one. While these sorts of events and casts of hundreds are nothing new for comic readers or fans of the different animated series and adaptations, this is breaking new ground in terms of big-budget live action blockbusters. This movie takes the concept of the shared cinematic universe to the next level, with nearly all the relevant major and supporting characters from across the entire Marvel Studio’s slate from “Iron Man” in 2008 until “Black Panther” earlier this year in 2018, creating an ensemble cast of dozens of familiar characters across this 149 minute epic. The benefit of this of course is that the plot isn’t bogged down by having to introduce every character and explain who they are; the filmmakers assume you know all these characters already or at least have a passing familiarity with them from their previous appearances and individual film adventures. The downside is if somebody goes into this movie having not seen most of the previous associated films, one could very easily get lost quickly and have to play a mental game of catch-up with the plot, but luckily there is enough given that even new viewers should be able to get up to speed and reward long standing viewers at the same time. With all this heavy lifting out of the way, the movie is free to jump right into the action which starts almost immediately and barely lets up throughout the duration.

The synopsis is very simple. “Avengers: Infinity War” brings to the screen the ultimate, deadliest showdown of all time as The Avengers and their Super Hero allies must be willing to sacrifice all in an attempt to defeat the powerful Thanos before his blitz of devastation and ruin on his quest for the Infinity Stones (previously seen throughout the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU)) puts an end to the universe.

Despite the longer than average runtime, you’ll barely notice as this movie will fly by and hold your attention throughout even in the quieter character moments and introspective dialogue as the plot advances. This is due to our familiarity and attachment to the characters throughout the saga of the MCU who are almost all endearing and given a lot of heart throughout. While this is one of, if not the most intense and serious films in the saga to date; don’t think that means any less humour compared to most MCU films. The Marvel Studios trademark humour is still very present throughout and helps undercut some of the angst and tension as the plot ramps up, quite possibly being one of the more genuinely funny MCU films yet without being a complete comedy. The action in “Avengers: Infinity War” is on another level and the intricacy and staging of several of the big action set pieces throughout the film is something to behold. With so many characters, all with their own unique abilities and fighting styles involved in these battles with the Children of Thanos, it leads to a lot of incredibly looking and quit cutting sequences that in the hands of lesser directors might be difficult to follow, but luckily the Russo Brothers have proven to be more than up to the task and make the heavy action as well the entire film very easy to follow despite the massive cast and enormity of the plot. No matter how skillfully and effortless they make this seem, there’s no getting around the fact that this is dense event film and as such there is A LOT going on…sometimes maybe too much going on. It will be a challenge for anyone to remember every single moment and detail of this movie when leaving the cinema the first time as there are just so many.

I have mentioned the size of the cast numerous times throughout this review, but it can’t be stated enough just how big this movie is. While many of these characters are the main focus of their own movies or past team-ups, here the focus has to bounce from and shift between so many, often times short changing certain fan favorites characters in favour of others who are given more focus in this story. While that may be disappointing to some, it is just the nature of a film of this scale. However, even with so many characters to juggle between, the filmmakers very wisely never forget to give each hero and most of the supporting cast a moment; regardless if it is a major moment, small moment, a clever line, an action sequence or anything else, fans of these characters will definitely leave with the sense that each character had a moment to shine in this movie.

A lot of credit has to be given to Joe and Anthony Russo for directing easily the biggest film of the year, if not the decade….if not ever. It’s debatable if this movie would succeed as much as does without them at the helm. With every major character and actor from the MCU converging in this movie, it’s impossible to single out anybody over anyone else, as they have all proven themselves in their own movies and bring the same level of quality to this one as well. You don’t get the sense that anybody is phoning it in and everyone brings their A-Game. A special mention has to go to Josh Brolin returning as Thanos in what is essentially his first true performance of the character where he is able to stretch his legs and show us why we have been supposed to fear him after all this time. Thanos is as much the protagonist of this story as he is the antagonist and his actions drive much of the plot around him while the heroes desperately scramble to stop his plans from coming to fruition. This CG in bringing Thanos to life looks great, capturing every last minor facial movement and detail, as does the CG throughout the film. After the events of this movie, Thanos might go down as one of the top movie villains of all time but only time will tell. As mentioned though, everybody involved deserves praise for this one from the directors, produces, cast, crew, effects teams, composer and so on.

Alan Silvestri returns to compose his first MCU film since “Marvel’s The Avengers” and crafts a beautiful score that captures of all the dread, scale and adventure of a movie like this. He cleverly hearkens back to cues from his scores from the first Avengers and Captain America films as well as incorporating musical cues from “Spider-Man: Homecoming”, “Guardians of the Galaxy”, “Black Panther” and many more to provide audio continuity with the rest of the MCU saga, particularly when each character makes their presence felt on screen. This one might be worth going out of your way to find on CD or in the iTunes/Spotify stores for fans of film music.

This film that has been years in the making is well worth the wait. You’ll get all the thrills and laughs of past MCU movies, as well a whole range of emotions as the movie unfolds. I have never heard an audience laugh as much as they did in this movie (that isn’t designed to be a comedy) in very many years and I also never heard an audience completely left speechless as they were in this movie. This movie will play with your emotions in so many ways and never quite go the way you think it will, while also giving you a complete movie going experience and still leaving you longing for more. Luckily there is only a year to go until the as-yet untitled Avengers 4 and only a couple of months until “Ant-Man and the Wasp” to tide us over until 2019. Though it might not be hard especially after a story like this, be sure to stay for the post credit scene at the end of the credits for even more. Enjoy South Africa as the big one is here.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1/2″][vc_column_text]

Additional Information

[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]Reviewed on: Cinema 2D Available on: Cinema 2D, Cinema 3D, 4DX, IMAX 3D, 3D Prestige, D Box 3D Genre: Superhero, Action, Adventure, Scf-Fi Age Rating: 10-12 PG V Estimated RRP: R50 – R175 Release Date: 27 April 2018[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/2″][vc_column_text]

Likes

Story

Cast

Surprises

Scope

Dislikes

Too much going on at times

Some characters relegated to the background and don’t get much to do

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